>Being a hidden class won't be a disadvantage in terms of
>preps, because YOU can still speak to other people and YOU can
>still choose to be visible when somewhere safe. And if you
>can tank (as assassins can, and rangers can) people will WANT
>to travel with you.
>
I agree.

>Also, do you realise that gear and preps are already largely
>level based? For example:
>
>Some preps can't be bought unless you are above a certain
>level.
>Wands can't be used unless you are above a certain level (in
>particular, sleek wands can't be found until certain levels).
>High level weapons do less damage when a low level uses them
>than when a high level character uses them, etc.
>
I know that. What I say is not having the same for armor & weapons
makes the game unbalanced (advantaging melee classes) making it more
difficult for a newbie's first wizard.

>What you seem to want is for gear not to make a difference,
>and that would kill off the mud for a lot of other people.
>It's not a "free win". It's also been shown that people stop
>valuing stuff if it is laid on a plate for them.
>
I do not want gear to make no differences. I think it would be better
to reduce the advantages of high level weapon and balance the game
between wizards and melee classes. I agree with OldNewb when he says:

"Going out and seeing hits, and grazes fighting mobs in gear you 'earned'
and then getting ===OBLITERATED=== in PVP... well, it's demoralizing and
humiliating and neither of those are 'fun.'"

I know high level weapons are supposed to do less damage when used by low
level player, but obviously they're still much more powerfull than what you
can get by yourself.

I don't think people would get away if the game was gear level based. Vets
would still be able to use their gear knowledge for having the best set for
the required level. And I doubt it would make them invincible when playing a
necro (or other wizard). My guess is vets and Imms likes to run around and kick
newbies asses without being really challenged. If this is the "feel of the game"
they enjoy, I'm fine with it for the Imms: again, I'm not the one giving freely
my time to keep CF up. But what is the result on long term? Personnaly, most of
the time, I gave up PvP when I cannot cheap kill and just flee when someone comes
for a fight. I avoid being cabaled (even if it makes me underpowered against any
caballed char) to avoid PvP. I do multi-char hidden classes (because I enjoy exploring)
to avoid situations too hot for me and when multi-char is not working, I simply go
play other games. Slowly, my CF playing time is going down and I hope that, eventually,
I'll find a better (more balance) game than CF where I will be able to experiment what
looks like a cool classe.

I'll let you guess how many newbies are doing what I do...

You like running after newbies who simply quaff 99% of the times and eventually are
playing less because they feel they have no chances to win a PvP? Well, keep CF as it
is because it's perfectly design for it (betting on old blood rather than newbie's).
But this doesn't make sense for me: when I read graveyard comments, I see that players
enjoy those who do not flee. And those fearless are, I'm sure of it, always char being
played by vets.

I do not care anymore about what CF becomes because i have the feeling it's a game design
for a little bunch of people. I hope you'll find a way to enlarge playerbase (even if I think
that it won't happen unless CF becomes more newbie friendly) because I enjoy my IC interactions
with some players and my exploration time. When it's not enjoyable I simply go away and play
something else.