>WHile I love the idea of having ABS dished out for every mage
>on a whim, it does create an unbalance in the grand scheme of
>things. There are 10-15 hardass non-mage players, that either
>play (Imperials-with prep knowledge, or hard-ass villagers).
>For mages to compete and hold their own, they must use ABS.
>It is not an 'I win' button agaisnt these type of chars. Take
>a giant sword berserker for example. I have used every
>conceivable prep at my disposal and still lost one on one
>fights, agaisnt the best of the best.

I think that goes both ways...Liches, uber A-P's, Invokers can all be very hard for players using every prep at their disposal and still losing one on one fights, so I'm not sure the relevance of any of the above.


>My idea regarding ABS is to bring roleplay and magery back to
>the forefront. PK whores that rank up to hero in 15 hours,
>and nab some ABS from OOC means, are just plain wrecking the
>system. THat being said, people should not have to search,
>area after area, sometimes going over the same place, time and
>again, to get this part of their char. out of the way. We
>already have a great system of limited wands, for freaks like
>me, that enjoy doing this.
>
>I propose a graded system, where the spell is learned starting
>with shield. Mages that roleplay well, obtain a certain
>amount of exploration points, have been engaged in battle for
>long periods, should gain some mastery into the mana weave to
>protect themselves. Something like the timer on shifter
>forms. You would feel yourself getting a stronger connection
>to mana, and wham, the ability to shield yourself. This would
>encourage, fighting, exploring, and magery (invention, writing
>works on magic, thesis papers, battling villagers).
>
>That being said, SHield should come relatively easy. AUra,
>Barrier would follow, and could trigger based on the mages age
>in Thera. I used to play D&D off an on when in college. I
>had a really skilled DM that actually made a dice-paper game
>extremely fun and exciting to play. Ancient archmages should
>be deadly.

This sounds more like Immortal controlled than automated, and honestly I'm tired of the amount of Immortal controlled stuff that already exists, I don't think this needs it. If I misunderstood, please explain more precisely what you think the requirements are to earn shield/aura/barrier.


>This proposal would disuade power-gamers. Sure you can grab
>some limited wands and roll up your gnome offense-air. But to
>become an elite mage, you would need show Thera through action
>that you are deserving.

So what's the difference between power-gamer and elite mage here? All the other ABS is still out there it sounds like, so is it just the fact you can cast them that makes you elite?

>On a second phase of this, put timers on how much use the
>spells can be cast. Devils advocate: A smart villager would
>hit the outer guardian, know that defenders are going to cast
>their spells of protection, and then be useless for 48 hours
>once it runs out. Give the mages the ability to withdraw the
>spell. If they keep barrier up for lets say 8 hours every 48.
> You could put it up quickly, and be ready to rumble. If the
>villager runs off, you withdraw it and now have 7 hours of use
>over the next period.

An interesting theory on affect timers that I hadn't thought of. Not sure how easy this would be to do, but interesting.

>Their is lots more tweaking and work needed of course.
>
>This system would give players the option to jump in and play
>the game to get rewarded and stronger. Instead of
>searching/gathering boredom which it appears many of our
>players dispise.
>
>Really interested in your opinion.