Hmm... at first I was disappointed with it being Monks. However, with martial arts weapons I could be able to see the Monk take on some attributes of an assassin type class depending on specializations. This is very exciting news indeed and I'm impressed the admin have been able to churn all of this out.

Figures that this would happen a few weeks after I go bard, damn temptation.

Now we must complete the illithoid quest so that we can have worm-fu?

This is what I would pick for different orgs:

Celest - Choice between spear, poleax or glaive.
Serenwilde - Quarterstaff.
Magnagora - Sai. I'd suggest a jitte but that would be griefing, like shieldsmash. Or maybe kama.
Glomdoring - Kusari-gama.

nnnoooo at least wait a week? I came in at the end of the quest and it tired me... I would've gone mad if I was there the entire time...

This is AMAZING!

As the first converts, I think Thoros, Ildy and I should be the first guild leaders for Mag's monks!

I will amost definitely be switching as soon as the class comes out...no offense, geos, but I'm already illithoid and this just looks too amazing.

Of course, that means I'll have to buy more credits

EDIT: Oh, and I forgot... You rolled out a huge new area (adding 10% to the total size of the world), released two new races, and announced a new archetype, all within about a week? Almost unthinkable. The only problem now is that a council of Serens will be deciding how to balance and test the monks. The weakest millitary force in the basin will be deciding the outcome of the monk archetypes...it's almost scary!

With AK-47s and ICBMs!

`Cause I can do cool Matrix flips while holding an ICBM base!

Pssh... here is the more realistic list

Celest - fish hook
Serenwilde - bamboo stick
Magnagora - bone knife
Glomdoring - SUPER COOL AWESOME SHADOW SWORD OF AWESEOMNESS!

Fantastic. Definitely going monk.

Am I allowed to bitch about Kephera crappy (Female) dexterity now?

No monk for me... although I will wait and see... I may end up being more effective as a monk then a Knight... but I kind of like being a knight so I don't know yet.

-is waiting-

I agree that monks certainly fit in with Lusternia, with Tosha alone if nowhere else. My concern, as I said, was that it was too 'specialized' as it were, as we already have an archetype dedicated to physical combat. At the same time, monks are obviously different from warriors in both tactics, abilities, and mentality. Soooo yeah, I guess I already am coming around.

I'll also agree that the admins are geniuses are making things work, however. If you told me a month or so before aetherships came out we'd have flying ships that move between planes and blast energy at others Star Wars style, I'd say you're crazy. But I sure as hell love them now!

Fascinating. I'm intrigued on how all this will pan out, specifically with Illthoids and this new class.

I wonder if when the monks come around, thats going to mean the ebonguard will be less "spirit"ual.... hmmm.

For those of you who haven't seen it, Tosha has really cool training rooms for the monks there. Including one where you learn how to fight whilst blind. Go take a look!

WOLF POWER!

If Glooms get Kusari-gamas, I will totally ditch the Shadowdancers. "Multi-month" process with solely Serenwilde? So the other guilds will not be released for approx. how many months? I'm thinking 2-5?

Then another 2-3 months to see them get settled in and work out the kinks?

Damn straight! Illy the Illithoid will be going monk (since he cant be an assassin). Only problem is that if monk do damage based on str like warriors do, even if they do damage based on dex then Aslaran will be the much better choice, especially with the balance bonus. Even Kephara are better suited as monks than a Illithoid.

Either way, I am excited. Especially if monks get mindnet (the best damn skill in IRE besides Phase)

There are plenty of others who would do a far better job of that. So I doubt it would be an issue if she left.

And a Fish Hook? No Mag can have that, they need something to catch the greiferfish

It would be rather nice of monks didn't have some sort of mental or 'psychic' skillset. This would actually support the argument by some that this is 'stolen' from Achaea or other MUDs. Then again, if we work with the assumption that kephera and illithoid were conceived with the monk archetype in mind, there will likely be some sort of psychic component, what with the hives and illdrain skills.

That doesn't mean they were stolen from Achaea. Monks in every game I've ever played had some sort of spiritual/telepathic abilities. Even in real life, they were known for being focused, disciplined, and introspective to develop their mental abilities.

I didn't say it was stolen from Achaea, just saying it would support the argument of naysayers. Also note I said other MUDs. I'm just hoping if something like that is done, they do an interesting take on it. Like with bards. I believe Estarra said somewhere neither she nor Roark had any experience with other IRE bards, so they were working from scratch. Inevitably, the bards in Achaea sing and use instruments just like Lusternian ones, but there are large differences in the actual mechanics (I think, was only an Achaean bard for a little while).

Actually, it would be interesting if the monks could grant blessings like the ones in Tosha as a secondary skillset.

EDIT: On second thought, every single archetype could be accused of being "copied" from Achaea or other IRE games. Only most of them play completely differently, which is basically the only thing I meant when hoping the monks were done uniquely...which makes my argument moot. I think I'll be quiet now.