I'll pose the first question. Will there be any way of getting a different wand location without attaining a wand from said spot? I ask this because some spots are nearly impossible for certain mages.

Second question, is it possible to discuss a certain type of wand or just random? I ask this because presently there may only be a need to get a sienna, for example, after it's used up and once needed it can be gotten without having to gather a black and amber before getting it again.

That was a f*cker and a half!

I basically had to sit by and watch others help me as my invoker in order to get my black there... ice needle, ice needle. Ha!

Any intention to change the level threshold required for Attunement edges?

Firstly, I like the changes a lot.

Possible problem I have come across and it may just be RNG so I thought I would check. Got some hints and collected sienna and ambers no problem, even from a place I never knew about, all good. I then get a hint for a black that is impossible for me to get until I am hero due to aggro mobs in that area. I have used shield and amber rods, so now I need to get more but the guild-masters just keep repeating the black rod hint. This could be very counterproductive to what you are trying to achieve for newbies.

Just thought I would check it was meant to be like this.

You don't get new clues until the normal game time for rods to repop. If you were able to gather the Sienna and Amber, you will begin getting clues for them once the in game timer for gathering them wears off. That is a long time. As an example, I'm not 100% but I am fairly certain that you could use all 4 charges of the amber back to back and you would still have to wait a while for a new amber to come up and it has the longest duration.

Got some hints and collected sienna and ambers no problem, even from a place I never knew about, all good. I then get a hint for a black that is impossible for me to get until I am hero due to aggro mobs in that area. I have used shield and amber rods, so now I need to get more but the guild-masters just keep repeating the black rod hint.

The guildmasters are giving you a Barrier hint because it's the only wand available to you at that moment. Every wand will only re-appear so often (I made no change to the timers), and I didn't want guildmasters sending you for a wand that won't be there.

If you wait a little bit, you'll start getting your Shield hint soon, and your Aura hint some time later. (Aura has a very long duration, and part of the intent of the system was that you wouldn't be able to just constantly keep it up.)

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Now I have a question. This is something I noticed with the "old" system and had written it off as me being crazy. I had "convinced" myself that my sleek amber "took longer" to reset than my black, or my sienna. The reason I had convinced myself of this, is I would always gather my black, and immediately gather my amber after. My black would be in, but my amber would not. I'd have to wait about another 15 mins for my amber to show up

have amber rods always "taken longer" to reset than other rods?

Aura has the longest timer, because one wand can cover you for a very long time.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Why, if aura and shield were the same dr, aura wands were consistently in harder locals.

Now I understand: it is because aura lasts longer. That right?

Thanks! I am not yet at a level to enjoy this change, but I'm really looking forward to playing with it.

>Why, if aura and shield were the same dr, aura wands were
>consistently in harder locals.
>
>Now I understand: it is because aura lasts longer. That
>right?

Correct. (Plus unless you're an A-P you have some kind of Shield on tap, so it's not as useful generally.)

Why, if aura and shield were the same dr, aura wands were consistently in harder locals.

Now I understand: it is because aura lasts longer. That right?

Yes.

Also, mages can have a class-specific version of Shield that won't stack with the Shield spell. Aura combines just fine with those.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

It was a good few game hours in between but until I got my black, I got no hint for either of the others. Soon as I got my black, discuss through up the amber, which I then got.

My worry was that you keep getting the same hint until you act on it, which could be ages if it is your black and it is impossible.

I had just collected a sienna, amber and black in about an hour RT and was wondering why I wasn't getting any more hints.

Just out of curiosity... If you had an existing character when the change went in to place, were the first hints given to the locations of your set previous to the change? Seemed like that could be the case to me, even though I hadn't found my entire set yet. If it was, I'm kind of kicking myself for not having found my black, even though I hadn't really started looking for it.

Also, so far after testing out the new system, I am liking it. I mean if the above is true, then pre-change I had an easy black location, which sucks to lose, but, I probably would have had one hell of a time finding the amber. In this system the good and bad kind of even out. Add in an attunement edge and you can mitigate the bad somewhat.

>Just out of curiosity... If you had an existing character when
>the change went in to place, were the first hints given to the
>locations of your set previous to the change?

It is my understanding that this is correct. Not necessarily the first hints, but the first wand locations you would have (whether you got a hint or not) would be what you rolled with. Once you gathered your sienna (for instance), with or without a hint, it would reset elsewhere.

I like this change, a lot.

I know some people like "wand hunting". I've always hated wand hunting with a passion.

Also, no longer is a mage characters value associated with good/####ty spots.

win/win

Since it seems like there is a little confusion for some people, here is a little clarification on how the wand slots work and what the Attunement Edges really do.


Right now on creation, every playerfile has 9 wand slots. They are as follows:

Sienna slot 1
Sienna slot 2
Sienna slot 3
Amber slot 1
Amber slot 2
Amber slot 3
Black slot 1
Black slot 2
Black slot 3

By default, only the "1" slots above are ever filled with a number. This number is inserted at character creation. So the pfile might look something like this:

SS1: 13
SS2: NULL
SS3: NULL
AS1: 2
AS2: NULL
AS3: NULL
BS1: 18
BS2: NULL
BS3: NULL

Without attunement edges, if the above hypothetical pfile's player goes and gathers their sleek sienna rod (the one at location 13), that slot will get reset to a new number. So it might look like this:

SS1: 20
SS2: NULL
SS3: NULL
AS1: 2
AS2: NULL
AS3: NULL
BS1: 18
BS2: NULL
BS3: NULL


Now, let's throw the attunement edges into play. It's theoretically possible to take each attunement twice, though the likelihood of that happening is pretty damn small. For the sake of this discussion, let's assume that the owner of the above pfile just took the 'Barrier Attunement' edge. Now the slots would look something like this:

SS1: 20
SS2: NULL
SS3: NULL
AS1: 2
AS2: NULL
AS3: NULL
BS1: 18
BS2: 7
BS3: NULL


That character's "hint pool" has now increased from 3 to 4. The guildmaster might give a hint for slot SS1, AS1, BS1, or BS2 now.

If the player gets a hint for BS1 (a sleek black rod), things work much the same as above. They can go gather that rod, and BS1 will randomly reset to another number (though possibly the same number, it is random after all). However, the player might also get a hint for BS2. Going to get rod BS1 will NOT reset slot BS2. Only getting the rod in that location will reset.

Note to self: Check with Valg if it's possible that BS1 and BS2 will ever end up with the same location, and if so, what happens when I pick up that rod.

nt

But they are always re-obtainable (eventually) at a guildmaster.

That way people aren't having to write it down every time? Or make it available in some sort of 'afk' log?

I would like to request that attunement means that two of the same kind of sleeks can't be assigned to the same location for the same character.

i.e. BS1 cannot equal BS2 at any point in time.

Whether that's how it is now, I'm not sure.

I believe this is how it works, since the code it piggybacks in works that way.

Ok...so the first scenario is that prior to this change I already found two of my wands. I only need one.

1. I go to guildmaster and 'discuss guildmaster' or 'discuss wand(s) guildmaster' or something else?


2. Since I have already gotten two of my wands will the hints default to the one I have not found or will it give me hints about wands I don't need?

3. I'm confused about this 'reset location' thing, do you mean if I find a wand using a hint and go get the wand, i'll get a new location every time I go get the wand meaning I have to keep getting new hints to find the newest location or is it like now, where once you find your wand that location works for you every time?

>Ok...so the first scenario is that prior to this change I
>already found two of my wands. I only need one.

I assume you mean you found two of the same type, via one of the attunement edges?

>1. I go to guildmaster and 'discuss guildmaster' or 'discuss
>wand(s) guildmaster' or something else?

discuss guildmaster

>2. Since I have already gotten two of my wands will the hints
>default to the one I have not found or will it give me hints
>about wands I don't need?

I don't know which wands you "don't need" but you'll be given a hint about either a sleek sienna or sleek amber or (level 35+) a sleek black.


>3. I'm confused about this 'reset location' thing, do you
>mean if I find a wand using a hint and go get the wand, i'll
>get a new location every time I go get the wand meaning I have
>to keep getting new hints to find the newest location or is it
>like now, where once you find your wand that location works
>for you every time?

Each time you gather a sleek rod, the slot that you just gathered for is reset to a new random location. If, for example, you go get a sleek sienna rod, the next time you get a hint for that wand slot, you'll be given a hint for a random location.

Is it possible to get a hint for the same sleek twice in a row?

I like the idea of the new system. I have not tried it yet so I can't make a true judgment. It sounds to me like a few things will happen.

- Limited sources will become more valuable as people will want them for backup in case they run into a situation where they can't get the right hint when they need it or the wand is too tough to gather quickly/alone.

- people will have to be very diligent about checking for hints as often as possible and take care to remember each one. I just don't see people looking for a sleek to get it once unless they have the hint. Hint farming and managing will be all the more important.

- attunement edges are now more important to have so you have a wider selection to choose from in case you get a tough location.

- making sure you have backup sleeks is even more important now because you just don't know how hard or long it will take to get the next

People may not like it but they'll adapt play styles and get used to it.

Advantage orderly?

Let's assume that 10 magi all get stuck when their wand has eventually ended up in the red dragon lair.

One day, they all band together and kill the relevant mob.

I assume that one sleek pops.

Do all ten get their wand rotated?

Why wouldn't they all get theirs?

But each time you ask, the wand should change - like every 30 minutes. But the odds are pretty ####ty you get the hint on the black rod so the incentive is always to collect. But the option of waiting 3 hours to get a black rod is still there.

I'd say that historically 4 out of every 5 of my characters have been mages, and I really can't see what all the whining is about.

I originally developed a pretty good wand list over 2 or 3 characters' lives with a lot of IC help so I actually enjoyed the wand system. Hell I actually enjoyed the level 30 wand hunt.

I see the benefit of these changes allowing newer players to actually have a chance at the A/B/S system. If they do happen to get a black spot stuck on the guy in the red dragon lair, now they'll have to get someone to help show them the ropes to get that spot "unstuck", but that's still better than it was before where they'd most likely just never have known to check there.

For me, these changes mean I might have a few characters holding sleeks more often than they did prior to these changes and a few characters holding sleeks a little less (depending on potential difficulty of permanent spots). I don't really see the end result for vets being that different.

Professional whiners.

Also called wahmbulance drivers.

Be the guy new to the mud.

"Ok, so I heard about ABS, and because I want to be able to mix it up, I talked to my guildmaster. And you know what? He told me exactly where I need to go!"

"I'm the veteran gnome shifter player. I can rank up to wands in 10 hours and hero in 30. Now I just power rank to hero and see if I like my forms, and the wands are a known quantity."

"I want to get into scion, but my rival AP cannot have a better wand set than me."


** How friggin awesome is that!? ***

Sure, no mages will get that "easy set", but between mages things have never been fair in the wands category, and many a great character has ended up deleting early with "Impossible wands" being cited in their death thread.

In the broad view, I think this has the potential for being a great change.

Thank you.

My current isn't a wand user but I'm my next will be now. I seem to have the worst luck with wand locations. Glad to know I won't have to deal with that in the same way again!

The sleek system has always been relatively terrible.

However, it never kept me from rolling a mage (I love shapeshifters). There are plenty of limited wands/scrolls/talismans in the world, and mages aren't SUPPOSED to have ABS on tap all the time. If they were, then those would be class abilities instead of preps.

You can still have terrible luck with your sleeks in the new system. Get an impossible black and have no allies? Well, you're basically still ####ed.

It is what it is.

Hey think what you want. I know plenty of limited sources as well and have never let the sleek system stop me from playing what I want.

Personally I am happy to not have to deal with a crappy spot for my black the entire life of a character.

This is a good change.

My last 3 magi all had the same awful sleek black location.

At hero, I could kill the mob in about 3 hrs real time, at a cost of probably 50 gold, and a non zero probability of dying. Because it was so hard to kill I would never find it when checking locations, and would only discover it far later.

Typically, with help, so someone then knew my location and soon after it would be camped by some outlander. So then it was 3 hrs work with a significant chance of being pk'd.

I'll take this change gladly, especially when you consider that other people just reroll to get an easy set; something much easier to do if your buddies are ranking you.

Also if you happen to be wanting your 15 pks in each rank band for edge points, in off peak time, you've probably sunk close to 150 hours before you discover your black is overly tough!

Firstly, you can eventually clear the tough spot assuming you can eventually get allies. You might even become more charming to achieve this.

Secondly, there are wands that you can get yourself but it is incredibly time consuming, and fairly risky. Now you don't have to face that every time. (With my last char I knew where my sleek was but only got it twice because it was too hard.)

Thirdly, you don't have to worry about the guys that help you reincarnating as your enemy and ambushing you.

The system had options last time. If you wanted a new spot(too hard/couldnt find) you took the edges. Options. D-art was also implemented to help a lot.

This system needs the option by raising the duration to ask questions(sucks but opens opportunity - you can always just go searching anyhow with the d-art).

while it may take 30 minute to get a hint(1/3 chance for the wand you want) it should also reset the spot each time asked. Giving you an opportunity get a wand that you can actually get. Even if it takes you 3 hours to get the hint for the wand you want reset in a place you can get it. Obviously, its always in your best interest to get the wand as soon as you can. So the incentive to collect is there always.

Simply because if it might take you 30 minutes to get the one hinted at now.. who knows how long it'll take to get the reset from the proper want hint reset - and in a place you can collect.

+ It will promote mages to live longer than to see how they fared in the wand lottery

+ It will spread the pain of searching wands out from a 1-time search to a life of searching (or fetching if the hints are truly that specific)

-/+ depending on the point of view, people cannot camp out at your wand spot

-/+ mages must become more social, as we will not always have an easy set.

- it does make characters more guild-dependent


Idea: Change attunement edge (or create another edge) to "lock in" the location of your last wand.

>Idea: Change attunement edge (or create another edge) to
>"lock in" the location of your last wand.

I don't think I like this, just because it means we have to be really careful that there aren't any spots that are too easy.

There are a handful of spots that we had under the previous system that I turned off at some point because drawing them was (in my opinion) too good -- where other characters would struggle for barrier, you'd just pick it up from a container in a non-aggressive area. Those spots are available again now (and more like them will probably be added) now that I know you don't have them for life. Does that make sense?

I'd explain but it'd just be wasting time.

nt

If you don't have anything constructive to say, give it a rest for a while.

I appreciate you trying to make things easier for newer players, but you haven't really done that.

All you've done is add a quest-aspect to the process. Now, in a way, this is a good change, because, as you said, now if you have an "impossible" spot, then you won't be stuck with it for the life of the character.

However, you've done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to address the true problem, which is WHY ARE THERE IMPOSSIBLE SPOTS ALONG WITH EASY SPOTS? Why not make all the spots equally difficult? Is that too simple of a solution?

And if you guys don't see that as a systematic issue (which, I can't even tell if you do or not) than honestly, nothing I could possibly say could change that.

I feel like a lot of times you guys treat the symptoms instead of the disease. It is what it is. It's your game (which has been made abundantly clear multiple times) and you guys can run it in whatever way you wish.

> Why not make all the spots equally difficult?

I think that's roughly impossible unless there's only one spot.

The spots you've lived with for the last few years are our best effort to make them fair.

So, for example, how is the black rod on the dude in the Red Dragon Lair (Cyndrial the Arcane) in any way comparable to the black rod on Festpath (not even mentioning the Demon in the Sands black which most players end up creaming their pants if they get).

That's just one example, of which there are many. I'm not even going to mention the sleek amber on the mob with a limited barrier rod (which is an amazing location for any mage...with the possible exception of a shapeshifter with no amphibious form) as opposed to some of the other amber locations.

I just feel like perhaps you should try and get rid of the rods that you feel are too easy or too hard. Maybe replace them with limited wands? Because that is the key issue.

And you haven't solved it with this change. All you've done is make it slightly less bad (which, on the whole is a great change!).

I mean, don't let my pessimism change the fact that it's awesome you guys are attempting to address imbalances. I just think you went about it the wrong way.

>So, for example, how is the black rod on the dude in the Red Dragon Lair (Cyndrial the Arcane) in any way comparable to the black rod on Festpath (not even mentioning the Demon in the Sands black which most players end up creaming their pants if they get).

There's a lot of factors.

For example, I've PK'd people killing Festpath a few times, and I've PK'd a LOT of people, even characters that are otherwise nearly impossible to pin down, going after Kral'antranin. I've never killed someone going for Cyndrial.

>I just feel like perhaps you should try and get rid of the
>rods that you feel are too easy or too hard.

I did a long time ago.

>For example, I've PK'd people killing Festpath a few times,
>and I've PK'd a LOT of people, even characters that are
>otherwise nearly impossible to pin down, going after
>Kral'antranin. I've never killed someone going for Cyndrial.


Re: Kral'antranin - Bastard.

And yeah, I hear you on the PK aspect.

(though to be fair I died a lot getting my black when it was on Cyndrial so yeah...that should count)

Since the spots now rotate, you should have easier time noticing if people get stuck with a particular location.

I'm certain this system is far and away better for newbies.

I know one wand location.

Now I can play a mage and have hints to finding some wands, without having to cheat like everyone else does.

By far the worst thing you have ever done. Im already considering deletion and a new mud.

nt

Don't try to fix anything that people constantly complain about, because they'll complain about the fix as hard as they complained about what they previously saw as a problem.

Not really, but I'm pointing to this the next time somebody tries to wave the populist flag and say why don't we fix the things people complain about? It's because any change makes somebody unhappy.

how you will also rebalance rager powers with this new change. how about making deathblow fire more often against protected (abs) opponents but with a lower multiplie, maybe cap it at 2 or 2.5x

I don't intend to change them.

nt

I honestly have no idea why anyone would think this change would be accompanied with a change to Battle, excepting the players who think Battle is overpowered for some reason and forum-crusade against it at any opportunity.

As was pointed out by you earlier it can make magi hunting harder in some respect.

No longer can you see Bob the Mage log in and immediately know a few places to look for him because you know his barrier location.

It's interesting that you mention that because I have had a thought on that angle, but I'm waiting to see how the basic version of this system works before I add a wrinkle to it.

Or maybe not? Who knows.

cannot recall ever having been pked while retrieving my wands.

My personal favorite spot is Velkyn Oloth. When ever I would hunt the under dark I would make sure to pop up at the bottom of Velkyn to see if I could catch anyone wand hunting. Every once in awhile you get lucky.

Those were good times.

If your idea is to have rager guild masters give tips as to where mages wands currently are, I'd say that's an incredibly bad one so please don't so it. Otherwise you will have rager assassins waiting to kill injured Mage who isn't wanded.

remaining at top tier power is more difficult with the new system and battle remains at top tier power for their own powers.

yes, you are pulling up the bottom tier mage players, i get that and appreciate it (as posted on qhcf), but my rager-fighting readiness is now diminished if I am a mage keen on the playerkilling side of the game.

even if i had a bad location, i always knew where it was and could readily use my wands to get the black or amber on the last charge of my current abs set. shrug.

does that make sense?

>remaining at top tier power is more difficult with the new
>system

I don't see this as true, unless we assume you delete and reroll if you don't get one of the easiest (for whatever you're playing) wand locations.

i'm fine with not seeing eye to eye. and i appreciate the work you guys do, very grateful for such an awesome game.

hope the new wand systems rocks, fwiw

excited to see what else is coming down the pipe (looks like enchanters?)

I do get what you are saying. But I think it applies to everyone equally. You could have the same problem as a scion when fighting fort.

I'm sure the imms will be watching the new system closely and tweak as necessary if it is causing unfair disadvantages.

That's always been unbalanced in favour of the mage.

It's better that no Mage has barrier on tap.

Are you part of the DB is OP group? Sounds like it to me and looking for a back door way to bring up that discussion again.

Being competitive with sleeks shouldn't require a wand list buildt over many characters and long grindy search of potential spots in the wand list. The old system was a system of haves and have-nots, where you pretty much got dam redux on stick-style farmable spots or nothing at all, depending on whether you went through the arduous grind. A big power-up for those in the know and bothering to search.

I like that in the new system, wands are more accessible to the larger portion of the playerbase, and not quite as abundant as in the old system. This is a good addition to the game, making it more accessible to new players and those of us who didn't build up or copy wand lists. Newbies are the lifeblood of any game and this change is among those that make the game more accessible and interesting for new players. The sleek hint can be thought of as a nice little exploration mini quest with the wand reward in the end, giving incentive for new people to visit and explore that particular area.

Anyway, thumbs up for this change. Dunno if this makes me want to play CF again, but it definitely is a step to that direction, since a mage that actually finds a sleek wand is now an option for me.

I like that in the new system, wands are more accessible to the larger portion of the playerbase, and not quite as abundant as in the old system. This is a good addition to the game, making it more accessible to new players and those of us who didn't build up or copy wand lists. Newbies are the lifeblood of any game and this change is among those that make the game more accessible and interesting for new players. The sleek hint can be thought of as a nice little exploration mini quest with the wand reward in the end, giving incentive for new people to visit and explore that particular area.

It's very intentional that this pushes people towards exploration, for what it's worth.

The new system also makes adding or subtracting spots very easy-- if a new area comes in, we can add spots to it fairly seamlessly.

Under the old system, adding a new spot created a very confusing situation where people would search dozens of spots, then realize that they have "None of the above", and have no idea where to look next.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I can see risks with it but I'm sure they can be monitored and addressed if needed.

It should, I think, cause people to be more considerate in their wand use.

I guess my main concern is whether off peak players on the underdog side will regularly be out of luck as their enemies get wands in groups but they can't because there's no one to help.

However, when I consider back to my last several chars even this would better than their location.

Does this new system randomize every sleek wand location after it has been picked up or just ones that have been found using hints?

For example: My current mage knows all three places to get his and has been doing so. After the change goes in I will have one more collection of each then need to look somewhere else?

Does this new system randomize every sleek wand location after it has been picked up or just ones that have been found using hints?

It does. Getting a hint does nothing to change the wand mechanics. If you stumble across your current location without using a hint, the wand will be there. And after you grab it, it will be somewhere else.

For example: My current mage knows all three places to get his and has been doing so. After the change goes in I will have one more collection of each then need to look somewhere else?

Yes. It's fully intended that no one gets one spot for their lifetime.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I think it being randomized after maybe two pickups might be more manageable given how quick raids can eat up a guys wands but we will give it a bash.

There is no need to have them on mobs that call for a group now or developed method to achieve. Since you will not be returning there often most likely... and people cannot develop your tracks and tendencies. This is extra tedious otherwise.

.

Are those sources changed as well?

nt

>nt

One common complaint about the previous wand system was of the form: "This requires you to be a very veteran player or have someone pass you a wand list to be competitive!" This is no longer a valid complaint.

Another common complaint was that there was a big time sink to search out your wands. This is no longer a valid complaint.

Another common complaint was that a good or bad set of wands could make or break a character and that this was very unfair. This is no longer a valid complaint.

have 2 sets of abs on hand. the new system seems like it will make that very difficult for active pk'ers because of the frequency of burning through them before you can get a new wand hint. right?

**just read valg's post about the discuss timer.

so, what is the timer? if i got my hinted wand, will i immediately get a new hint for a new wand?

In practice, the limiting rate in piling up a giant stack of wands is/was the fact that you could only find one so often. You couldn't, for example, camp outside your Barrier spot and grab one every couple minutes as the area reset itself, the way you might try to pile up coins or other equipment.

That hasn't changed, and the timers are significantly longer than the hint timers.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

assuming i knew my spots. then go to town on fighting, raiding, retrieving, whatever, and a half hour later go get a new set.

trying to understand the timing on the new system (not bashing)

So I took the barrier attunement edge, which as I understand it gives a second barrier wand location. Never found the first, but I did find the second after an endless and painful search.

Does this mean there will be two barrier spots out there? If so, do they both rotate? Or is that edge no longer relevant?

If it no longer applies, any chance of somehow getting a refund on those edge points? That's a fairly expensive edge.

Thanks. Not sure how I feel about this change yet but looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

(Editing for clarity.)

Does this mean there will be two barrier spots out there?

Yes. You can receive hints for both, one at a time.

If so, do they both rotate?

All sleek wand spots will be of the rotating kind.

In the case of Attunement edges, only the individual wand you found will rotate at the moment you find it. Your other spot(s) will remain still until you grab them.

The perk of the Edge is that you'll have two spots to choose from at any given moment, and hints to find both without a massive search.

Or is that edge no longer relevant?

I spoke with Daevryn about the cost, and we couldn't decide if it should go up, down, or stay the same. We'll observe for now.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

The major advantage to attunement now, as I see it, is for characters who cannot reliably get every wand of that kind by themselves.

Without attunement, if I hit on a sleek black that's very hard for me to get, I can't get any until I get that one.

With attunement, I can ignore that one and get the sleek black from my second slot until I have the allies or time it takes to grab the one from the first slot. (Unless there's a second location that beats me and I hit on that, too.)

He seems to imply that if you successfully get one of your 2 sleek blacks (say) then both sleek blacks shift to new locations.

You seem to imply that if you get one of your 2 sleek blacks, the one your didn't get won't shift to a new location.

Could you clarify which of the above applies in practice please?

If you get one of your 2 sleek blacks, the one your didn't get won't shift to a new location.

This is correct. Only the wand you obtain moves.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

>One common complaint about the previous wand system was of
>the form: "This requires you to be a very veteran player or
>have someone pass you a wand list to be competitive!" This is
>no longer a valid complaint.

The hints are great. There was no need to continually randomise the locations though.

>Another common complaint was that there was a big time sink to
>search out your wands. This is no longer a valid complaint.

This complaint is still valid (and I'd argue even more so) unless the "hints" are Go 2w, 3e, 4n, open d, get all urn. The former situation was that you find your rod locations once. Now you have to find your rod locations EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Sure it might be slightly easier to find them EVERY.SINGLE.TIME but you still need to find them EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Please explain how that is not a big time sink.

>Another common complaint was that a good or bad set of wands
>could make or break a character and that this was very unfair.
> This is no longer a valid complaint.

That's the RNG and that is what attunement was for. Attunement value has severely decreased now and should be adjusted accordingly (edge-point wise). I got temperance on the Deck of Fate. That is very unfair. Please fix it.

This change has Valg written all over it. I'm surprised you let this through Nep.

tl;dr - All you had to do was implement the "hints" and that would have solved everything.

>Please explain how that is not a big time
>sink.

Instead of throwing 100 hours (or whatever) early in the life of a mage to search through many dozen locations to pin down your wands, you get told where to go each time.

That initial investment to get rolling is gone now.

nt

Get rid of sleeks totally. Make all the sleek locations be limited wand locations.

1) I'm pretty sure Arvam has a really well-written post explaining that CF isn't, nor really ever be "evenly balanced" on a case by case basis. Some things are easy, some things are hard. Overall, though, it's a pretty even field.

2) Referring to #1 above, it's also impossible for the wand locations to be specifically "balanced". A transmuter mob is hard for some people, easy for others. Same for a necro mob. Or an area w/ lots of aggros, etc.

And the #### involved in that scenario. By an large, most invoker mobs are annoying. But what happens when your only option is to flee north because you cant simultaneously crawl south in the flee command?

There is a huge difference in fighting Destinan vs most invoker mobs in a dragon lair surrounded potentially by mobs.

This change has Valg written all over it. I'm surprised you let this through Nep.

Probably more than anyone on staff, I telegraph what I'm doing and post examples as I go. The thread that started this got participation from a bunch of people. There were pieces where there was staff disagreement, so I offered a compromise and gave the other party review privileges and the final say on that part of the overall product. Three other staff members participated substantially in the design and can identify themselves if they want to deal with this sort of thing.

I know it feeds the Drama Llamas' fantasies to imagine that I'm this rogue agent who just codes random things in the middle of the night, but you're looking at a consensus solution as far as I can tell.

tl;dr - All you had to do was implement the "hints" and that would have solved everything.

You would still have mages with more or less convenient sets for life. This includes not only the difficulty of retrieval, but things like the mage who lucks into a steady source of Barrier right next to their cabal, or on an NPC that's especially easy for their build, etc.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com