Barren wrote:
Really? I remember different spell lines, but all of the heals were in the same line. I'm saying you can split them into two lines so a cleric can't heal themselves and heal others (effectively) without seriously jeopardizing their build (limited prayer, walls, offense).
It was such.
(End quote reference)
The problem with just a flat nerf is that a flat nerf leaves the cleric with mana deficiencies, which may seem like the point, but such is a doubled edged sword, because it causes the cleric to stay closer to the shrine and causes the cleric to have less activity when he goes into the battle, which causes the player to enter the psychology of the kid sitting on the sidelines, afraid to enter and then feeling ineffective when he does. Do you understand why this would be poorly received by the players?
Sorien, could you please post simply the spell lines list for the cleric from the bottom of the spell.dat for the last version we used?
When I split the class's lines up, it was done to lower their power when they entered into the fight, while granting them the gifts of increased specialization to feel more unique and of increased frequency of casting to increase the amount of individual interactions with other players. The heals themselves retained most of their efficiencies, but were reduced in levels and strength, allowing them to cast heals more often for the same net heal result, which increased activity and interaction. Combined with the other lines being expanded upon, the class became more diverse. So, overall, the class became more "fun" to play. There is a difference between diminishing a player's concerns/feelings and providing an alternative solution that could make both parties happy.
Sorien and myself were about 85% on the same page as far as the clerics overall strength at the end of MSN is concerned, with that really being trivial overall.
What is missing from the equation however is remembering the other revamps that were also either done or in the works. For disabling a cleric, the increased viability of signs caused more arcanists to have sign unpower 3 to use against airwalling clerics, and Darkstorm was added to void, which gave the ability to both shred airwalls and void the cleric. For killing the cleric, part of the mentalist overhaul involved the Psionics line, which were fast, aimed projectiles which did damage slightly higher than Mind line and ignored all prayers' dmg reduction and the TR aspect of prayer and which also went through all player walls.
What Shadle is speaking of is that, historically, Magestorm has always had a community full of toxic players, and so the game eventually craters in on itself from the community stance, which has nothing to do with anything actually game related. When Magestorm came out, it was the early days of computing and so simply being online itself placed people in a minority position. Then, you had being on a game online, which itself was a minority position within the previous minority. Then, you had the specific game itself, which, again, a minority within the minority. And, now, you have those within the nostalgia of such. So, you have a minority of a minority of a minority of a minority. Within life, this is something that tends to happen. For one reason or another, we find ourselves in a continuing trend of marginalizing ourselves away from the norms of society, away from the masses of peers, and towards what can really, genuinely, only be called maladaptivity, and, when one is faced with such, the most common response is to highlight our own positive uniquenesses to mask the necessarily existent opposing flaws. I, myself, for instance do such with my presence, my understanding of people and society, and my intellect. When people, for whatever reason, decide to be abrasive about my intelligence, I tell them that I say that I am intelligent and act as such simply because I am such, and so I use such to try and help people, not because I actually value or want to be intelligent. And so they typically call me lucky or say they wish they were or whatnot, and so I tell them, everything has its price and the price I paid for my intelligence is very high, and that I would rather just be normal. And so it goes within the community on Magestorm. For whatever reasons, everyone involved with the game has, for some reason or another, in some way or another, found themselves on the perimeters of society, and, being away from the center, which is being on the outter edges of what really is most likely a circle, we find ourselves on far or opposing ends of the circle, so vastly seeming different, no reconciliation in sight. And yet, the perimeters itself is proof of not our differences, but of the shared pains we all have, we all know, and in so seeing this, we may better see each other. And, maybe, that counts for something.