Remember Farwoods? It’s a self-described graphical MUD that casts players as woodland critters of various kinds to live out a digital life that we caught wind of back in June. The big hooks for the game are that it has no NPCs whatsoever, letting players choose professions that interest them the most, along with open PvP, though it also says that “requires in-character justification, since it is not necessary for character progression.”
It’s that angle of making other players’ lives a bad time that’s the focus of a recent developer post on Reddit, specifically talking about how bandits are going to be more able to steal stuff from players: Developer Chanterelle Interactive is adding a new item is being added that stops characters in their tracks to “initiate a conversation” with them (so mugging, basically), and the “closet meta” that allowed players to use countertops to limit access to items is being adjusted so counters no longer physically block characters; instead players will be able to store their stuff in a secure chest.
If this sounds like Farwoods is setting itself up to be Grand Theft Auto: Bunny Andreas, fear not: The devs state that it will still be hard for bandits to haul out loads of items from burrows, combat characters will still be “difficult to equip and maintain,” and there are still strict rules on when players are allowed to attack and loot others. “The feedback we’ve gotten from the playerbase over the last few months is that banditry is very difficult, and not terribly rewarding,” the post explains. “We hope this will serve as a deterrent to make people more afraid of bandits.”
