IDEAS! :D Update on skills / healing exp?

[Bago]

Hey I don't know the code very well so I don't know how plausible this is for a suggestion... and its probably been suggested before but here goes...

Idea 1:
I have played this for quite awhile and I feel that when I want to specialize in something I shouldn't have to constantly worry about other weapons that do not coincide with my class structure to have enough HP to do anything difficult with AoE damage. My idea for a solution kind of goes back to an old Everquest system in regards to specialization. In EQ you could only specialize as a caster one discipline past 50, and whichever one you got past 50 first was your chosen discipline and could not be capped, while the others capped at 50. The idea that would go for MSC would be that you can only get 2 or 3 skills past 12 or some designated level ( parry not included, and maybe take out parry changing class names ). Spell casting at that point would be fine because honestly once you have 50% shield and rejuv, you are pretty self-sufficient. With this new cap you could add a base amount of HP to be added to all skill trees without having people just level everything to get the most HP instead of specializing. Perhaps make the cap 20? the cap is something that could be discussed but I feel a cap would allow people to fulfill some sort of role within the community. Obviously this community is small so the cap would need to allow people to sufficient on their own without certain archtypes, but that is very do-able at a low level of skill. I know my friend who just started playing really wanted to be a pure a caster and could not do so because of the lack of HP and being raped, and it seems now that everyone at a certain point becomes a king of all trades. Food for thought, it would be a pretty big change and I am sure some would not welcome losing everything being maxed out, but as far as appeal, I think I could bring a great deal of players to the game if they knew they could specialize and fulfill a role that not everyone else could do. I mean we do have player classes in the game but they are merely a title based on skill ratios, rather than a true representation of how you play and what role you fulfill. Maybe like a potion of forgetfulness you have a rare potion or something that allows you to reset your skills back to the cap should you choose to that spawns you items that give a certain amount of skill in a field? or maybe just resets all skills to the base level cap for professions e.g. 12 etc.

Idea 2:
If idea one was implemented ( or even not but better if it is ), healing actually giving experience to divination or some tree? More divination spells than just rebuke from what I have seen so far. Taking one idea further you could split the spell casting tree to damage type spell caster and pure support/healing casters. Leave some elemental support things like ice wall to the Damage type casters, but maybe make some new spells available to this new healing/support class, buffs like HP buffs, maybe a heal over time, a dispel, a knockback buff? resist spells?

I don't want to take away from what MS is because I think it is great as it is, but I do think it could be a lot more. Sure graphics are dated but game-play is why I play this game and I know many others that this is the case. Again, I do not know the code and what these changes would entail so please don't hit me But the development team here seems spot on and I think something like this is definitely do-able. Let me know what you think because I have gradually started bringing people in to this game from WoW and other MMOs and most really like the game and think with a little tweaking it could be utterly amazing (not saying that its not now, but you know )

Also... I do voice acting, Thothie need some voice overs for stuff? I work for experience

 

[Anomie]

Well, setting a cap too low would cause a lot of weapons that people have acquired would become useless and it'd be a little disheartening to just drop something that they were lucky enough to get. But leveling divination is especially painful at the moment and giving XP for healing OTHERS would be a good idea. Otherwise I can see people jumping off a cliff repeatedly with rejuv cast. I do like the other ideas though but have no idea how hard it would be to code them.

 

[Bago]

Well in truth a patch like this would more than likely wipe characters, which I am sure people would pitch a fit over, and rightfully so, but maybe some kind of incentive like keeping their items or something. Oh hey and with a patch like this the game could develop somewhat of an economy as well. Whether it be items or gold ( if its ever able to be traded ).

I wouldn't want the older players to be screwed over for sure, so maybe some way to compensate for the loss of skill points, but this is just an idea for making the game more appealing to newer players and something that can keep the game fresh longer. I would quote a psychology journal but I am too lazy to find the actual study that found people are more inclined to fulfill roles and find their nitch in the world. This patch would bring that element to the table instead of everyone hitting max level, getting all the gear possible and feeling bland cause everyone can do everything, rather than you having a specific and important role.

Also maybe a tanking skill specific field? maybe do put a cap on parry and make that something tanks spec into, but give it some kind of move incentive like better shields or new moves, etc. I am thinking 3 would probably be the number of specializing skills if the new ones were added.

*pirate penguins and dancing ninja were getting old*

 

[Anomie]

It would really depend on how higher level players would be compensated for sure.

 

[TheOysterHippopotami]

In regards to specialization it seems to me like it would be more effective to give weapon and armor buffs/debuffs based on the flavor of the class. I could see players going on a quest to obtain a certain class and perhaps undertaking a different quest to relinquish that class.

Of course, for that to be implemented we would need many new armors and armor types.

An example I pulled out of my ass right now could be a fire knight of some variety. Give him +30% fire damage, +25% damage to nova blade, and make PA give him 55% defense instead of 50%. Also maybe make him absorb fire damage into HP (if only slightly) with the PA and fire helm equipped in conjunction. Maybe even make the fire helm boost his defense by +2% allowing him to have a defense percentage of 57%.

Of course, make the cold helm either completely impossible to equip or make it debuff him severely. How about -15% defense for equipping the cold helm, and make it only give 1x or 1.5x your ice level instead of 2x Ice level. Also, -30% to all ice spells and weapons. And also make ice attacks do +25% to the character. Also increase the likelihood of being frozen as well.

 

[PBarnum]

Well in truth a patch like this would more than likely wipe characters, which I am sure people would pitch a fit over

Yes, yes they would. Since I have been here, there have been two major character wipe scares. Both resulting in a huge drop in activity both in-game and on the forums.

 

[Thothie]

The functional specialist idea I had in mind allows specialization without, in most cases, limiting the character in anyway, but just making him more effective (do more damage and thus level faster) in those categories which his specialization focuses on. (This, not only due to the wrath TW would set forth if they suddenly had all but a few of their skills capped well below their current levels, but also due to my personal tastes. This community is not nearly as small as some folks like to think. ^_^)

Ala The chart of dreams.

As for Parry affecting titles, it won't. You won't have any title save "Adventurer" until you qualify for and select one of the above titles, and go through the proper procedure/quests for the NPC who grants you the title.

Also hope to have a few hidden, possibly evil titles. (Anyone want to join the K. Cult?)

Parry itself will, eventually, no longer be a level'able stat, but will instead be calculated based on your current weapon, your skill with said weapon, multiplied by whether or not you have a shield, and the type of shield. You can actually see what your Parry score would be under the future system whenever you equip a new set of weapons by looking in the console (although this may only be the case if you are the host on a listenserver - I can't recall if it's globally available to clients.)

Healing will never grant XP directly, largely because it would result in ye dreaded "AFK leveling sploit". The intended exception to this rule is buff/aid specialists, who will get a fraction of the XP of every creature the recipient of their buffs slays (without taking from his own XP count). How we're going to code that bit is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment, but I'm sure I had some idea at some point - hopefully it'll come back to me.

This current patch, to be coming down the pipe very soon (hopefully), will sadly not contain any of these major game-playing changes, being yet another simple expansion of the world. Hopefully, however, it will get the ball rolling to some, long over due, farther reaching changes.

Well in truth a patch like this would more than likely wipe characters, which I am sure people would pitch a fit over

Yes, yes they would. Since I have been here, there have been two major character wipe scares. Both resulting in a huge drop in activity both in-game and on the forums.

*sigh* Bad memories... I still wish I hadn't joined forces with J-M against MiB's proposed character wipe. That force of arms put a real crack in, what had been at the time, the recently formed dev-team's morale. I suspect if I had just let them do as they pleased, while there would have been long-term consequences, MiB and Foamay would have remained a lot more active and for longer, and we wouldn't be where we are now, development wise.

 

[Thothie]

Missed this on first scan:

Also... I do voice acting, Thothie need some voice overs for stuff? I work for experience

Hell yes... If by "work for experience", you mean the experience of working, and not additional XP. I've been PM'ing Poof of Psycho Fandubs to come back and do the voice of the Runegahr again, for his reappearance in Sorc Palace, but I dunno if he'll respond and have it done in time for the patch. Aside from him - just name the character(s) you are interested in voicing for, and I shall send script.

I've got enough sound software here to fix up just about anything, but I do ask that ye enunciate, and taper your S's (do not hiss into the mike).

 

[Hakariaki]

Levelcaping on FN sounds like a bad idea. If that ever going to be implemented in the game, let it be on a new server so evryone starts out new.

I dont really see how you can afk level with healing since you need to activily start the healing skills. giving full xp from healing would be pretty ob like 1hp = 1xp. 10hp into 1xp sounds more even. There probolly is someone with the knowledge of makeing a script for healing but that can be done with pretty much anything.

Anyways div is not the hardest spell to level up. i would consider lighting far more annoying to get up in level.

 

[Thothie]

Levelcaping on FN sounds like a bad idea. If that ever going to be implemented in the game, let it be on a new server so evryone starts out new.

There's already an effective level cap of about 40 (to be more than 'effective' in the next patch), but what he's suggesting would lower the cap below current obtainable levels (to 20 for secondary skills), and I don't think many folks would like that degree of nerfage. We've three more high level maps in the pipe for the patch after this, so I suspect we'll be raising the wall to level 50 pretty soon after in any case.

I dont really see how you can afk level with healing since you need to activily start the healing skills.

You can simply hold the button (or console it down). Then all ye need is for some poor sap to go AFK in your face, or log in with another account and have your smurf do the same. Then go to bed, and wake up with divination 40+.

There's an AFK flag that could be used to deal with this sort of thing (it already is used in such a fashion for the passive damaging auras will be introducing in this patch), but it's still just an all around bad idea. It's also part of the reason we're removing Parry as a level'able skill as it is. (We'll be removing it's affect on attributes as well, of course, and scattering them more or less evenly amongst the existing skills.)