Here I am, prowling the forums like some sort of ghost. But here is my thoughts.

I played off and on since 1997. The last real character I had was a Cloud Giant Warrior Hero, and before that was a Gnome Invoker in the spire. Mix in some Ragers before those, and thats pretty my list of characters.

But with those characters, and reading through most of this post, it started me to think. What is it people value about this MUD that keeps them coming back? And the third question, why do the Immortals continue to do what they do, and why do they want to protect it so?

For some, its exploration. Others, its PK. Me, its a combination of both. I do not have any time these days to roll up a serious character, but the desire always remains to explore the new areas that have been implemented. And thus, the problem of not having enough time to get a character to the point to check out all of those cool places (the new Tiamat liar included).

I also miss the bonds of friendship by joining the Cabals, and working alongside other people, exploring, pking, raiding, ect. The dwindling number of people is a concern, and I agree we may never see the 100 plus people online at once like when I first started playing.

That being said, I also understand that the Immortals who add to this game wish to protect what they have created. They want to protect the puzzles they worked tirelessly to create, so that others could take the time to figure them out. They enjoy the fact other people enjoy the game as it is, and wish to keep it fair and balanced for all who want to play/explore. And continue to add to the game that we have all come to like so much.

I can understand that people don't want to spend hours exploring, looking for things. It is human nature to take the easy way out. But I also know that the newbies that start the game are at a serious disadvantage when it comes to exploring, to get that upper edge, and learn how to find those things on their own.

At first, I thought that removing all preps was a horrible idea. Invokers would get the upper hand on Warriors being stuck in quicksand (no flight), Transmuters and RBW would be more prevalent, and some fights that would last for minutes would be reduced to a few rounds (see Gnome shapeshifter out of form vs RBW with mace Spec, 3 round dead Gnome). The list goes on.

But thinking about it further, the classes have always had good matchups vs bad matchups across the board. It always comes down to timining and tactics. Sure, the Gnome might have quicksand vs a warrior with no flight, but the Gnome still has to worry about tripping/bashing/lagging specs/class lagging abilities. But that is the risk that the Gnome invoker has to take. There is good and bad in every matchup.

Prepping helps take some of the guesswork out of the game. Flight to prevent tripping, damage reduction to help mitigate the RBW, ect. Finding the right preps for the situations takes time and effort. Gathering can sometimes take longer.

That being said, I would like to make the following suggestion. I would like to say now that my goal is to make the game more newbie friendly towards exploration, but also increase the difficulity of access to ABS when it is used for PK.

Sleek Wand System - Make this accessable to everyone (only for mage use though), and maybe even create a list that a mage can go explore and find those sleek wands. Keep the wands limited, so that people have to choose what they want to keep in their inventory.

Here is the spin on it though: Make the protections that the sleek wands give work only for PvE. Remove the protective properties when it comes to PK. So a person may use that sleek wand for barrier, but that barrier does nothing when it comes to PvP fighting. This is along the idea of Khadrath's Planar Sanctum, where Barrier is accessable, but only usable in that area.

Other non-limited preps, like flight, stoneskin, ect. Keep them as they are, and let them work in both PvE and PvP. These are not game changers, but they do have value in planning and execution.

Other Limited ABS - Keep these sources working for both PvE and PvP.

My goal here is to promote exploration for the newbie generation into those areas that would be too dangerous normally. There are downsides, I know, but

The goal here is to help people learn the mage classes, and give them a way to go out exploring, removing some of the risk

I do not know how horrible of an idea this is, or the scope of implementing this would be. I am just trying to help both those who do not have the time to sink into this game (like me), and help the newbies get some help to explore both the game and the limitations of the classes.

Krathreal