Game Vices and Rectification, and Ideas
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:58 pm
Game Vices and Rectification, and Ideas
OsisÔÇÖs Grand Thesis.
Im done with this game for a long while, mainly because I got tired of it. Im sure some people will be happy to see me go, and others not so happy. ThatÔÇÖs neither here nor there though, nor is it the reason for this post. I decided that before I leave totally, that I should post what I see in the game that needs to be changed, fixed, or added. These are all ideas for new components, or corrections to existing game components that would make the game better, or the existing components balanced. Most of my thought is backed up with logical, or RP information/thinking. If you donÔÇÖt like it, fine, but post in a civilized way and keep to topic. I donÔÇÖt want to see this go to waste.
First of all, I'd like to thank the Immortals for putting this game together. I spent countless hours enjoying myself on this game, and it was all due to your hard work. Also, as a beforehand disclaimer, I realize that the Immortals are all working extremely hard to fix the balance of this game, and this is in no way meant to be volatile in nature, or insulting. That means if it pisses you off, donÔÇÖt post, cuz Im not pointing fingers or insulting the Immortals.
Game Wide Balance and Ideas
Wolfbrothers should have less move points. There is absolutely no role-playing reason as to why they would be able to run forever that I can find in the books. Elyas walked through Caralain plain, but he didnÔÇÖt sprint the entire thing, and he rested every night. The only mention of this that I could ever find was when Wolfbrothers were a new thing in way ancient days, when Humans hunted with the pack. But it never said the wolf pack ran from the Blight to Tar Valon chasing a deer. Perrin still rides a horse. Why do they have this bonus? On the other hand, Wolfbrothers should be able to smell/hear Trollocs in the area, meaning that they would get a list when they hit where. I know they used to have this bonus, but I'm not sure anymore. They should also get messages from wolf mobs reporting specific occurrences, such as the passing of people or Trollocs though a room that a wolf mob is in.
Channelers. This is a big topic, and a big sore spot for most of the mud. I think female channelers that enter the Tower should lose the ability to bash and charge, mainly for the RP reason that they spend all of their time doing chores and learning how to channel when they are pre-Aes Sedai, and all of their time doing tasks specific to their Ajah after earning the shawl. It is none of the Ajah's assigned task to learn how to wield big weapons and smash Trollocs into the ground with them, or to gain the strength to run a trolloc through with a pointy stick. I believe that channelers should be able to keep the ability to stab, if they can, however, mainly because stab does not need much strength to accomplish, and because it should be rough to swing with practices. Channelers all need to be capped in a manner that does not allow them to wield weapons of greater weight. This would keep them from wielding weapons that are heavy enough to skewer, or bash with. I also believe that channelers should have a maximum amount of weight worn, and should not be able to wear abs, mostly because if they arenÔÇÖt strong enough to wield a heavy weapon, they wont be able to move, or even stand up in plate mail, much less fight in it. However, I believe that they should get a much greater variety of channeling abilities, especially since they are clanned, and because they spend all their time learning how to do such weaves. I think that they should get the ability to learn more powerful ranks in increments, at rank 3, where I assume they get Accepted status, and rank 5 where they get Aes Sedai status. I also think that they should have an option of getting a master status weave instead of a master status weapon. It makes more sense, since some of the channelers of higher acclaim in the books had learned secret weaves such as balefire. I think that the Black Tower, when opened, should have the same opportunities, but that they should have the weapon weight cap alleviated by 1-2 lbs because they are men, and because in the Black Tower, they are trained in weapons and survival. Wilders should have a severely lessened ability to channel and poor sps regen, as they can only learn a crude control over the One Power. I also think that the Agility weave should be decommissioned, for the reason that thereÔÇÖs no way in hell a channeler could use the one power to make herself move faster then everyone else.
My ideas of some new weaves are as follows. They are just descriptions and names, however, and would need to be balanced out.
Air Garrote ÔÇô a thin weave of air, honed to razor sharpness and left in wait to ambush pursuers, or the unlucky. The idea of this weave would be to cause damage to people that are pursuing you.
Linking ÔÇô two channelers group together and link, one taking command of the weaves and drawing on the other channeler like an angreal. Sp costs for weaves would be cut in half, and would do twice the damage. Would be a Black/White Tower only weave
False Trail ÔÇô creates false tracks of the channeler going in a different direction
Stone missile- a nearby stone is picked up and flung into the air, and is made to explode in midair with the Power. Would do Damage against groups.
Exploding Earth- a certain point in the ground explodes, flinging dirt everywhere, and causing mass damage to the person it is cast upon.
Rag doll- weaves of air are used to wrap a person tightly, flinging them into the air and jerking them around before smashing them back to the ground. Would be a small damage weave, possibly 30 hps, but would act as a bash.
Blade of Fire ÔÇô A sword of fire is formed, and can be used by a channeler, with the added ability to destroy a piece of equipment on very low percentage. Would be an upper rank clan weave.
Ward of harm- cast upon a preexisting weapon, the weapon receives a damage multiplier for a determined amount of time. This would simulate the darkfriendÔÇÖs burning hot knife that Rand and Mat stumbled across in Four Kings.
Compulsion- a person is forced to follow the channeler that casts it for a time, and can be ordered to do things on a channelers whim. Would be a Dreadlord/chosen only weave because it is forbidden to the White Tower.
Bending Light- a false wall can be used to camouflage a channeler and anyone following her in a room indefinitely, bending the light to make it appear as though they arenÔÇÖt there, but only for as long as her sps last. Would take a quantity of sps to maintain per tick.
Hardening Air- Air is used to capture a person in one spot, keeping them there until the weave wears off.
Combustion- this would be the equivalent of incinerate in Wotmud. A person combusts and catches on fire due to a flow of the Power directed at them.
Light Ball ÔÇô A small orb of light is formed, taking the place of lanterns.
Sever- complete severing of another channelers abilities to channel
Disguise- a channeler uses weaves to change the look of their clothes and face. When they use this weave they can change the name that they are seen as by other people for a time.
Shield ÔÇô allows a channeler to block another channeler from the One Power for a time.
Ward against the One Power ÔÇô a tangle of weaves negate any affect of weaves on them at the cost of a channelers sps.
Tempest ÔÇô Strong weaves of wind are used to disperse groups and cause damage.
Twist of the Light ÔÇô Causes the image of the channeler to grow to giant proportions, striking fear into the hearts of an enemy in the room. Would be a channeler equivalent to fear.
Frost ÔÇô An icy blast causes the enemy to be slowed down greatly. Would be the halfing of defense and OB.
Wall of Flame ÔÇô A wall of flame is produced to hinder pursuit. Anyone trying to enter the room that the flame wall is in will suffer damage and potential loss of a piece of equipment.
Silver Lightning ÔÇô A weave used by the Chosen against Rand when he cleansed the One Power of the Taint. Would be lightning with an added degree of damage.
Ward against Shadowspawn ÔÇô A line is made by a channeler for a short amount of time that disallows any shadowspawn to cross it.
Inferno ÔÇô would be fireball with an added degree of damage.
Change Weather ÔÇô Snow can be called to make tracking impossible
Fog can be called to hide a zone in a blanket.
Rain can be called forth, which would reduce the cost of lightning.
Cutting - a weave that another channeler is preparing can be cut in mid weave, taking a slight amount of hps from them as their weave slaps back into them.
Obviously, new zones need to be implemented, and current zones widened out a bit so as to enhance PK. This will fall on the builderÔÇÖs shoulders, however.
Humans need a reason not to come into the Blight, also. As it is, in the books most humans feared the Blight because it meant almost certain death unless you had extreme survival training and knowledge of the Blight and the creatures that lived there. In the book it described the Blight as a sweltering heat, and that Lan and crew had to carry many jugs of water with them when they went into the Blight. Perhaps the necessity for water can be increased for humans in Blight, if itÔÇÖs possible to code. I also think they should suffer a slight move loss, because its easy to get exhausted in extreme heat when your fighting for your life, especially if your not used to the heat.
Next on the agenda is EQ/Weapon balance. Equipment is in severe need of being wiped. There should only be at most 5 top end sets of equipment for each armor class, those being Dodge, combo, and abs. When the equipment is wiped, IÔÇÖd also like to see the money system changed. Meaning that all bank accounts be wiped out too. Currently I have upwards of a million gold in my bank account, and absolutely nothing to do with it. This is mainly due to the fact that anything good needs to be smobbed for, and only crap sells in the shops, at highly exorbitant prices. Middle equipment needs to sell in the shops, and the entire money system needs to be changed, in a manner that represents the Wheel of Time genre. In the Wheel of Time, there where coppers, silvers, and gold crowns. Why not have it like that here? And you get the added bonus of buying things that might actually serve you well in PK.
New types of equipment need to be introduced into the game by the truckloads. Right now you either have a fully crappy set, a medium set, or the best set in the game. IÔÇÖd like to see 7-9 more levels added in between the worst and the best set. In order to make Abs worthwhile, IÔÇÖd think the top abs percentage should be raised to 85 percent. The top end dodge set should be around 350 defense, and the top combo set should be about 260 defense with 65 percent abs. Dodge is useless right now, as the four main weapons that can bash them are rather common. Bash needs to be downed, but if it is, the damage on the high-end weapons needs to be increased greatly. If a dodger is on the floor, I want to see fragmentation, and not ÔÇÿyou hit XXX hard.ÔÇÖ
Weapons are a bit of a problem right now too. Right now short blades do twice as much damage to a bashed opponent then axes do for the simple reason that they hit the opponent twice as much, with the same or more damage then bashing weapons. Think about it, and tell me which hurts more. Being stabbed twice under the ribs, or having a seventeen pound object with a sharp blade slammed into your chest. To solve this, the damage on the round of attack needs to be lowered slightly.
I also think more weapons and weapons classes should be introduced. Right now we have eight weapons classes. Poleaxes, medium blades, whips, projectiles, bows, and crossbows could all be made and put into use as practicable skills and useable weapons.
IÔÇÖd also like to see new skills be made. As this game is now, we have all the same skills that Wotmud has, which, many of us fight against being like. Therefore, why not make new skills that will change the game play, and thus, get some diversity and space from Wotmud between us.
These are the skills that I think should be implemented:
Hand to hand combat ÔÇô could be practiced and combined with any weapons class in order to create a more lethal character, but would also enable a person to damage without a weapon. A person that has hand to hand fighting practiced to high percentages would be able to kick for greater damage and more move points, have a greater dodging bonus, and there would also be a percentage chance of having emote damage given to your opponent during battle, such as ÔÇ£Osis drops on his back and kicks you square in the knee caps. You bellow in pain as you fall to the ground,ÔÇÖ or ÔÇÿOsis smashes his fist into your jaw, and you taste blood.ÔÇÖ A short blade user would especially have an offensive bonus given to them depending on their percentage in hand to hand, because short blades are damned close to hand to hand weapons.
Hand to hand weapons ÔÇô these weapons would enhance straight hand-to-hand combat more so then any other weapons class in the game. These would be represented by brass knuckles, iron fists, finger armor, tiger claws (brass knuckles with 6 inch projecting blades. Think Wolverine from X-men), black jacks, and an assortment of other street fighting paraphernalia.
Cover tracks ÔÇô removal of your tracks through a room, done so with a medium length timer.
Projectiles ÔÇô Two types of projectiles, one being Aggressive, and one being Peripheral. Aggressive projectiles would be javelins, knifes, chakrams, throwing spears, throwing axes and any other things that would do direct damage to a character. Peripheral projectiles would be projectiles that would have a special ability, but would not cause automatic damage by being hit with them. These would be bolas, throwing nets, and other things that would drag an opponent back into a room, or leave him sitting in a room for a bashed timer length. Projectiles would have a timer a little shorter then bash.
Practices and percentages are totally out of whack too. Channelers have practices to be hunters or rogues. I, as a warrior, have the practices to go stabby if I want. As far as I can tell, intelligence plays no part whatsoever in the practicing of skills, however I may be wrong. What I do know is that some skills that are practiced twice are as good as that same skill practiced eight or nine times. Skills need to be changed in a manner that puts into effect real learning of skills. Using steal as an example, youÔÇÖre not going to be able to pick pocket someone ┬¥ of the time after a master thief has showed you twice how to do it. ItÔÇÖs going to take a good deal of time, practicing under that master to learn enough about pick pocketing to get to that level of efficiency. This is, in fact, whats happening in the game, though. People practice a skill twice and are able to do, with efficiency what they should still be stumbling at. Lower practice percentages need to do a great deal less, and higher percentages need to do more.
Bash also needs to be changed in a different manner, which could require a good deal of coding. Bash needs to be changed in a way to makes it so that the person who logged on last doesnÔÇÖt always win, meaning that a bash that is separated by a dline should be made into a bash fight instead of an automatic win for the fool who logged on last. It also needs to be changed in the fact that absers should not get bashed every time a bash timer runs out on them. I used to have dodge practiced to 91 percent in an attempt to dodge bashes, but repraced as I found that it did jack shit. Absers being bashed one hundred percent is not logical anyway. If you think about it, warriors would make it their business to know how to avoid a move that could mean the end of their lives, especially if they cant get back up since their armor is so heavy.
Master rank is next. Its damn near impossible to achieve at the moment. I have 425 qps total right now and IÔÇÖve been playing since the mud got back up. Two qps per scalp is ridiculously hard. I understand the desire for the entire mud population to be spread out rank wise, and not to have every other character be a master, but it wouldnÔÇÖt hurt to at least make scalps 3 qps, if not more then that. At the moment, though, Ill need roughly 400 more scalps to get master. ThatÔÇÖs a crazy amount of people dying.
Role-playing also needs to be introduced to an extent. At the moment, people canÔÇÖt keep a handle on character separation, which can turn a run of the mill pk issue into a game wide blaring of hatred of a personÔÇÖs character. This will help to solve char separation problems, but also add in an element of character development, something that has been severely lacking in this game play experience. Pk is fun, but sometimes it gets old, and if thereÔÇÖs nothing else to do, interest is lost fast.
Mobs hps and difficulty to stab/skewer needs to be downed a bit. An Elite soldier, and IÔÇÖm sure quite a few other mobs, with 4 people on it takes easily twice the amount of time to kill then an actual player. This means that these mobs have twice the amount of hps that a Player does. It doesnÔÇÖt make any logical sense. Also, mobs in Fal Dara and Trolloc Keep need to have a greater chance of being stabbed or skewered, mostly because its damned near impossible now.
Horses need to be looked at as well. At the moment, horses are in good tandem with trolloc moves. Both have enough to run back and forth in pk. Horses can be stacked, and be left to remount, but itÔÇÖs not a big deal. I do think that humans who are engaged in a fight should not be able to mount horses, and humans unengaged in a fight should not be able to mount fighting horses, because if you think about it, its bullshit. How are you going to take the time to mount a horse if your trying to dodge whatever kind of enemy is coming at you to end your life? How are you going to mount a horse that is bucking and kicking in an attempt to keep its life from the creature thatÔÇÖs attacking it? ItÔÇÖs not possible.
This is all that I could think of that would balance the game out. If the game changes because of this, great, if not, I tried. I will be back eventually.
Osis Soulend
Wielder of Nocturn
Master of the GhobÔÇÖhlin
Shadow Council
OsisÔÇÖs Grand Thesis.
Im done with this game for a long while, mainly because I got tired of it. Im sure some people will be happy to see me go, and others not so happy. ThatÔÇÖs neither here nor there though, nor is it the reason for this post. I decided that before I leave totally, that I should post what I see in the game that needs to be changed, fixed, or added. These are all ideas for new components, or corrections to existing game components that would make the game better, or the existing components balanced. Most of my thought is backed up with logical, or RP information/thinking. If you donÔÇÖt like it, fine, but post in a civilized way and keep to topic. I donÔÇÖt want to see this go to waste.
First of all, I'd like to thank the Immortals for putting this game together. I spent countless hours enjoying myself on this game, and it was all due to your hard work. Also, as a beforehand disclaimer, I realize that the Immortals are all working extremely hard to fix the balance of this game, and this is in no way meant to be volatile in nature, or insulting. That means if it pisses you off, donÔÇÖt post, cuz Im not pointing fingers or insulting the Immortals.
Game Wide Balance and Ideas
Wolfbrothers should have less move points. There is absolutely no role-playing reason as to why they would be able to run forever that I can find in the books. Elyas walked through Caralain plain, but he didnÔÇÖt sprint the entire thing, and he rested every night. The only mention of this that I could ever find was when Wolfbrothers were a new thing in way ancient days, when Humans hunted with the pack. But it never said the wolf pack ran from the Blight to Tar Valon chasing a deer. Perrin still rides a horse. Why do they have this bonus? On the other hand, Wolfbrothers should be able to smell/hear Trollocs in the area, meaning that they would get a list when they hit where. I know they used to have this bonus, but I'm not sure anymore. They should also get messages from wolf mobs reporting specific occurrences, such as the passing of people or Trollocs though a room that a wolf mob is in.
Channelers. This is a big topic, and a big sore spot for most of the mud. I think female channelers that enter the Tower should lose the ability to bash and charge, mainly for the RP reason that they spend all of their time doing chores and learning how to channel when they are pre-Aes Sedai, and all of their time doing tasks specific to their Ajah after earning the shawl. It is none of the Ajah's assigned task to learn how to wield big weapons and smash Trollocs into the ground with them, or to gain the strength to run a trolloc through with a pointy stick. I believe that channelers should be able to keep the ability to stab, if they can, however, mainly because stab does not need much strength to accomplish, and because it should be rough to swing with practices. Channelers all need to be capped in a manner that does not allow them to wield weapons of greater weight. This would keep them from wielding weapons that are heavy enough to skewer, or bash with. I also believe that channelers should have a maximum amount of weight worn, and should not be able to wear abs, mostly because if they arenÔÇÖt strong enough to wield a heavy weapon, they wont be able to move, or even stand up in plate mail, much less fight in it. However, I believe that they should get a much greater variety of channeling abilities, especially since they are clanned, and because they spend all their time learning how to do such weaves. I think that they should get the ability to learn more powerful ranks in increments, at rank 3, where I assume they get Accepted status, and rank 5 where they get Aes Sedai status. I also think that they should have an option of getting a master status weave instead of a master status weapon. It makes more sense, since some of the channelers of higher acclaim in the books had learned secret weaves such as balefire. I think that the Black Tower, when opened, should have the same opportunities, but that they should have the weapon weight cap alleviated by 1-2 lbs because they are men, and because in the Black Tower, they are trained in weapons and survival. Wilders should have a severely lessened ability to channel and poor sps regen, as they can only learn a crude control over the One Power. I also think that the Agility weave should be decommissioned, for the reason that thereÔÇÖs no way in hell a channeler could use the one power to make herself move faster then everyone else.
My ideas of some new weaves are as follows. They are just descriptions and names, however, and would need to be balanced out.
Air Garrote ÔÇô a thin weave of air, honed to razor sharpness and left in wait to ambush pursuers, or the unlucky. The idea of this weave would be to cause damage to people that are pursuing you.
Linking ÔÇô two channelers group together and link, one taking command of the weaves and drawing on the other channeler like an angreal. Sp costs for weaves would be cut in half, and would do twice the damage. Would be a Black/White Tower only weave
False Trail ÔÇô creates false tracks of the channeler going in a different direction
Stone missile- a nearby stone is picked up and flung into the air, and is made to explode in midair with the Power. Would do Damage against groups.
Exploding Earth- a certain point in the ground explodes, flinging dirt everywhere, and causing mass damage to the person it is cast upon.
Rag doll- weaves of air are used to wrap a person tightly, flinging them into the air and jerking them around before smashing them back to the ground. Would be a small damage weave, possibly 30 hps, but would act as a bash.
Blade of Fire ÔÇô A sword of fire is formed, and can be used by a channeler, with the added ability to destroy a piece of equipment on very low percentage. Would be an upper rank clan weave.
Ward of harm- cast upon a preexisting weapon, the weapon receives a damage multiplier for a determined amount of time. This would simulate the darkfriendÔÇÖs burning hot knife that Rand and Mat stumbled across in Four Kings.
Compulsion- a person is forced to follow the channeler that casts it for a time, and can be ordered to do things on a channelers whim. Would be a Dreadlord/chosen only weave because it is forbidden to the White Tower.
Bending Light- a false wall can be used to camouflage a channeler and anyone following her in a room indefinitely, bending the light to make it appear as though they arenÔÇÖt there, but only for as long as her sps last. Would take a quantity of sps to maintain per tick.
Hardening Air- Air is used to capture a person in one spot, keeping them there until the weave wears off.
Combustion- this would be the equivalent of incinerate in Wotmud. A person combusts and catches on fire due to a flow of the Power directed at them.
Light Ball ÔÇô A small orb of light is formed, taking the place of lanterns.
Sever- complete severing of another channelers abilities to channel
Disguise- a channeler uses weaves to change the look of their clothes and face. When they use this weave they can change the name that they are seen as by other people for a time.
Shield ÔÇô allows a channeler to block another channeler from the One Power for a time.
Ward against the One Power ÔÇô a tangle of weaves negate any affect of weaves on them at the cost of a channelers sps.
Tempest ÔÇô Strong weaves of wind are used to disperse groups and cause damage.
Twist of the Light ÔÇô Causes the image of the channeler to grow to giant proportions, striking fear into the hearts of an enemy in the room. Would be a channeler equivalent to fear.
Frost ÔÇô An icy blast causes the enemy to be slowed down greatly. Would be the halfing of defense and OB.
Wall of Flame ÔÇô A wall of flame is produced to hinder pursuit. Anyone trying to enter the room that the flame wall is in will suffer damage and potential loss of a piece of equipment.
Silver Lightning ÔÇô A weave used by the Chosen against Rand when he cleansed the One Power of the Taint. Would be lightning with an added degree of damage.
Ward against Shadowspawn ÔÇô A line is made by a channeler for a short amount of time that disallows any shadowspawn to cross it.
Inferno ÔÇô would be fireball with an added degree of damage.
Change Weather ÔÇô Snow can be called to make tracking impossible
Fog can be called to hide a zone in a blanket.
Rain can be called forth, which would reduce the cost of lightning.
Cutting - a weave that another channeler is preparing can be cut in mid weave, taking a slight amount of hps from them as their weave slaps back into them.
Obviously, new zones need to be implemented, and current zones widened out a bit so as to enhance PK. This will fall on the builderÔÇÖs shoulders, however.
Humans need a reason not to come into the Blight, also. As it is, in the books most humans feared the Blight because it meant almost certain death unless you had extreme survival training and knowledge of the Blight and the creatures that lived there. In the book it described the Blight as a sweltering heat, and that Lan and crew had to carry many jugs of water with them when they went into the Blight. Perhaps the necessity for water can be increased for humans in Blight, if itÔÇÖs possible to code. I also think they should suffer a slight move loss, because its easy to get exhausted in extreme heat when your fighting for your life, especially if your not used to the heat.
Next on the agenda is EQ/Weapon balance. Equipment is in severe need of being wiped. There should only be at most 5 top end sets of equipment for each armor class, those being Dodge, combo, and abs. When the equipment is wiped, IÔÇÖd also like to see the money system changed. Meaning that all bank accounts be wiped out too. Currently I have upwards of a million gold in my bank account, and absolutely nothing to do with it. This is mainly due to the fact that anything good needs to be smobbed for, and only crap sells in the shops, at highly exorbitant prices. Middle equipment needs to sell in the shops, and the entire money system needs to be changed, in a manner that represents the Wheel of Time genre. In the Wheel of Time, there where coppers, silvers, and gold crowns. Why not have it like that here? And you get the added bonus of buying things that might actually serve you well in PK.
New types of equipment need to be introduced into the game by the truckloads. Right now you either have a fully crappy set, a medium set, or the best set in the game. IÔÇÖd like to see 7-9 more levels added in between the worst and the best set. In order to make Abs worthwhile, IÔÇÖd think the top abs percentage should be raised to 85 percent. The top end dodge set should be around 350 defense, and the top combo set should be about 260 defense with 65 percent abs. Dodge is useless right now, as the four main weapons that can bash them are rather common. Bash needs to be downed, but if it is, the damage on the high-end weapons needs to be increased greatly. If a dodger is on the floor, I want to see fragmentation, and not ÔÇÿyou hit XXX hard.ÔÇÖ
Weapons are a bit of a problem right now too. Right now short blades do twice as much damage to a bashed opponent then axes do for the simple reason that they hit the opponent twice as much, with the same or more damage then bashing weapons. Think about it, and tell me which hurts more. Being stabbed twice under the ribs, or having a seventeen pound object with a sharp blade slammed into your chest. To solve this, the damage on the round of attack needs to be lowered slightly.
I also think more weapons and weapons classes should be introduced. Right now we have eight weapons classes. Poleaxes, medium blades, whips, projectiles, bows, and crossbows could all be made and put into use as practicable skills and useable weapons.
IÔÇÖd also like to see new skills be made. As this game is now, we have all the same skills that Wotmud has, which, many of us fight against being like. Therefore, why not make new skills that will change the game play, and thus, get some diversity and space from Wotmud between us.
These are the skills that I think should be implemented:
Hand to hand combat ÔÇô could be practiced and combined with any weapons class in order to create a more lethal character, but would also enable a person to damage without a weapon. A person that has hand to hand fighting practiced to high percentages would be able to kick for greater damage and more move points, have a greater dodging bonus, and there would also be a percentage chance of having emote damage given to your opponent during battle, such as ÔÇ£Osis drops on his back and kicks you square in the knee caps. You bellow in pain as you fall to the ground,ÔÇÖ or ÔÇÿOsis smashes his fist into your jaw, and you taste blood.ÔÇÖ A short blade user would especially have an offensive bonus given to them depending on their percentage in hand to hand, because short blades are damned close to hand to hand weapons.
Hand to hand weapons ÔÇô these weapons would enhance straight hand-to-hand combat more so then any other weapons class in the game. These would be represented by brass knuckles, iron fists, finger armor, tiger claws (brass knuckles with 6 inch projecting blades. Think Wolverine from X-men), black jacks, and an assortment of other street fighting paraphernalia.
Cover tracks ÔÇô removal of your tracks through a room, done so with a medium length timer.
Projectiles ÔÇô Two types of projectiles, one being Aggressive, and one being Peripheral. Aggressive projectiles would be javelins, knifes, chakrams, throwing spears, throwing axes and any other things that would do direct damage to a character. Peripheral projectiles would be projectiles that would have a special ability, but would not cause automatic damage by being hit with them. These would be bolas, throwing nets, and other things that would drag an opponent back into a room, or leave him sitting in a room for a bashed timer length. Projectiles would have a timer a little shorter then bash.
Practices and percentages are totally out of whack too. Channelers have practices to be hunters or rogues. I, as a warrior, have the practices to go stabby if I want. As far as I can tell, intelligence plays no part whatsoever in the practicing of skills, however I may be wrong. What I do know is that some skills that are practiced twice are as good as that same skill practiced eight or nine times. Skills need to be changed in a manner that puts into effect real learning of skills. Using steal as an example, youÔÇÖre not going to be able to pick pocket someone ┬¥ of the time after a master thief has showed you twice how to do it. ItÔÇÖs going to take a good deal of time, practicing under that master to learn enough about pick pocketing to get to that level of efficiency. This is, in fact, whats happening in the game, though. People practice a skill twice and are able to do, with efficiency what they should still be stumbling at. Lower practice percentages need to do a great deal less, and higher percentages need to do more.
Bash also needs to be changed in a different manner, which could require a good deal of coding. Bash needs to be changed in a way to makes it so that the person who logged on last doesnÔÇÖt always win, meaning that a bash that is separated by a dline should be made into a bash fight instead of an automatic win for the fool who logged on last. It also needs to be changed in the fact that absers should not get bashed every time a bash timer runs out on them. I used to have dodge practiced to 91 percent in an attempt to dodge bashes, but repraced as I found that it did jack shit. Absers being bashed one hundred percent is not logical anyway. If you think about it, warriors would make it their business to know how to avoid a move that could mean the end of their lives, especially if they cant get back up since their armor is so heavy.
Master rank is next. Its damn near impossible to achieve at the moment. I have 425 qps total right now and IÔÇÖve been playing since the mud got back up. Two qps per scalp is ridiculously hard. I understand the desire for the entire mud population to be spread out rank wise, and not to have every other character be a master, but it wouldnÔÇÖt hurt to at least make scalps 3 qps, if not more then that. At the moment, though, Ill need roughly 400 more scalps to get master. ThatÔÇÖs a crazy amount of people dying.
Role-playing also needs to be introduced to an extent. At the moment, people canÔÇÖt keep a handle on character separation, which can turn a run of the mill pk issue into a game wide blaring of hatred of a personÔÇÖs character. This will help to solve char separation problems, but also add in an element of character development, something that has been severely lacking in this game play experience. Pk is fun, but sometimes it gets old, and if thereÔÇÖs nothing else to do, interest is lost fast.
Mobs hps and difficulty to stab/skewer needs to be downed a bit. An Elite soldier, and IÔÇÖm sure quite a few other mobs, with 4 people on it takes easily twice the amount of time to kill then an actual player. This means that these mobs have twice the amount of hps that a Player does. It doesnÔÇÖt make any logical sense. Also, mobs in Fal Dara and Trolloc Keep need to have a greater chance of being stabbed or skewered, mostly because its damned near impossible now.
Horses need to be looked at as well. At the moment, horses are in good tandem with trolloc moves. Both have enough to run back and forth in pk. Horses can be stacked, and be left to remount, but itÔÇÖs not a big deal. I do think that humans who are engaged in a fight should not be able to mount horses, and humans unengaged in a fight should not be able to mount fighting horses, because if you think about it, its bullshit. How are you going to take the time to mount a horse if your trying to dodge whatever kind of enemy is coming at you to end your life? How are you going to mount a horse that is bucking and kicking in an attempt to keep its life from the creature thatÔÇÖs attacking it? ItÔÇÖs not possible.
This is all that I could think of that would balance the game out. If the game changes because of this, great, if not, I tried. I will be back eventually.
Osis Soulend
Wielder of Nocturn
Master of the GhobÔÇÖhlin
Shadow Council