I know the idea of changing the names of shifters forms so that people dont get confused and attack the wrong one has come up a few times, and shot down, which I agree on. But I have been thinking, what about running a monthly contest for shifter form descriptions. Im not asking for the names to be changed to distinguish them easily, but I would assume that each shifter has his own personality, and therefore slight variations to what their form looks like. Maybe have a set for each form and have it randomly picked for the form when they gain the form. Another thing is if someone spends enough time with the shifter when they are in form then wouldn't they be able to see some small differences to others? The same as telling twins apart, you usually aren't able to straight away, but after awhile you can spot small differences.

Just an idea, thoughts?

From a gameplay standpoint, I have always assumed that the shifter guild doesn't teach their students how to change form into that of a regular lion, or ram, or whatever. They teach them how to shift form into a magical construct that is best described as a lion, or ram, or whatever. As a consequence of the way they are taught, pretty much all the ram constructs look alike - there's not a lot of room for variety in those particular spells. Not to say this is the only interpretation - yours makes sense as well.

From a design standpoint, I remember how hard it was to come up with the initial descriptions (both long and short) for all the existing forms. Coming up with enough long and short descriptions to cover a 'set' of existing forms would be a lot of work.

I cannot comment on the coding standpoint, which is usually the long pole in the tent when it comes to a lot of ideas. We've got plenty of folks like myself who can do the design and hash out the gameplay issues, but if it isn't a high priority on the coding list, it just doesn't get done.

While I think this is an interesting idea that would probably add a bit more flair and individuality to the class, I'd say we'd need a serious lull in the work we're doing now to get it off the ground. It's rare enough that I see two shifters with the same forms going at it that I'd say: chalk up the confusion as to who is who to the haze of war, and start hacking away at one of them.

Kastellyn the Devourer of Magic, Lord of Legends

But how many times to you actually look at the description of a shifted player? A lion is a lion is a lion, I don't care what color fur it has, I know its a lion and generally have a good idea of who it is shifted.

Sure, it's a neat idea, but a bit impractical.

See, it's like my cat. I'm not going to be sitting out on my porch and have some OTHER cat just come walking up to me and think to myself "How the hell did Cthulhu get out of the apartment?" I KNOW my cats. Conversely, anyone who spent enough time around a certain shifter ought to know them from another of the same "species" by looking at them.