Prison Server Explained.
The Prison Theme
I was sitting at work today, watching YouTube, and an ad came on about prison reform. Then I thought to myself about all the minecraft prison servers that are out there. A thought came to me, I have yet to see one in the EQEmu. I am not saying there has never been one, just never one that I have seen. With my thought process behind it, I think it can be truly some magnificent. You enter the world as a prisoner and work to earn your freedom.
The “R” Rating.
The reason I am going in this direction is because of the mature content that will be displayed here. The profanity, violence, and murder are just mere things to point out. There will be vulgar material. This is prison after all. We all know what happens here.
Warden and Guards
These are going to be primarily rolls filled by players. (Population depending.) I have done some thinking and am going to make these rolls filled by application. Do you want to be the Warden? Tell me why. Do you want to be a Guard? Tell me why. Nothing outrageous, just something that is going to tell me what kind of a player you are, or intend to be. My position as the game developer is simply going to be making sure everything flows as smoothly as possible. I want the entire game to be ran by the players. With my interference only happening when needed.
Crimes
Everyone knows that crimes happen in the real world, but did you know crimes happen in jail as well? Of course you did, I know that. This will be no different here, are crimes allowed? That is a two-sided answer. Yes, and no. Yes, crimes are allowed to the extent that you are able to commit them, and no crimes are not allowed and committing them has consequences. The consequences will vary depending on the crime. From death to solitary confinement, from a slap on the wrist to more time added to your prison sentence.
Economy
This is tough, an economy rarely ever works out the way it is planned. So how do I do it? Leave it entirely up to the players to create. That’s right my hands are tied, the only thing I am doing to help push this agenda is not putting merchants in the prison. That’s right! If you want something, either go get it, or get it from someone else. The price is set by the person, whether that price is free or costs you a pack of smokes.
The Zone
So, why did I choose Plane of Justice. Simple. It is actually a prison zone. For those unfamiliar, which I assume is few and far between. The zone is filled with prison cells. Using these cells, I am going to be able to manage where each player stays. This is going to tie in heavily with events.
Events
I had to think about this, having never been to prison myself. What kinds of things go on in prison? I know, they get fed 3 times a day. Well that’s an event, you want to eat, be at the meal area when the chow time event goes off. I also thought about lockdowns, and hey this can be done as well. Using proximity scripts, I can require players to actually be in their cell during a lockdown. Punishments TBD. This is one area where I would need some public opinion on types of events to incorporate to the server.
Gangs
Gangs are real. Gangs are absolutely a thing in any prison. That is why I chose to bring them here as well. They are replacing guilds, but I am not going to lie, will function the same, just a name change.
Work
Work will vary from different jobs. Whether it be cleaning up trash, getting X amount of lumber, or X amount of stone. I have a very cheap way of doing this, until I am able to figure out something better.
Death
I had mentioned death and some ways to die. Starving of course is going to be the main one, with one of your only sources of food being the chow hall event. Gang warfare can also be one of the ways you can die. I would think rivalries would be huge here. Murder, you can be murdered, by the previous way or just by another player, while the server is not focused on PVP, it is active. Sickness. You can die from the common cold, to a severe disease. If it is not treated. There will be a medical bay, where you can get treatment for your illness’s and have them taken care of.
Freedom
As explained in the opening paragraph. You can earn your freedom. Whether it being from escaping from jail, or just serving your nickel. So, what happens when you do earn your freedom? I have been thinking about this as well. I have come up with another simple solution. You will be freed into the real world. You will be let out, and put into TBD town. The town will be fully fleshed out, with custom things to do. You will able to work and live an honest life outside the system, or you can even become a criminal and do some nasty things.
Notes
So, how do you get stronger? Simple, either fashion yourself a weapon, and be prepared. Or, make some powerful friends. Everyone in prison will be in the same gear. The orange jumpsuit. Who has a weapon though? Be the person who everyone needs, not the one everyone hates. Be it the dealer, or the person who has everything.
So, how does experience factor in here? Experience and leveling play a very, very minor role here. Your level is going to simply be reflected on how much time you have served. With a 7 to 365-day ratio. (Every week, you have been in jail 1 year. Subject to change.)
I have made the decision to make every player and NPC attackable. This adds a bit more realism I think, that means you will be able to kill the guards, even the people in the cities. The reason I think it adds a bit of realism is; Once an NPC is dead, it stays dead. Another will take its place. That means, If you kill the butcher in some town, and he has no sons or daughters take fill the position, that town has lost it’s butcher, if it wants a new one, an actual player will have to fill the job.
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