I really don't see how duplicate afflictions with the same effect and same cures are that much of an impediment to starting fighters. If your system can handle one affliction, making it handle the same affliction with different messages seems pretty straightforward. Nor do I think the way demesnes work is that much more difficult to understand and cope with than warrior afflictions and wound levels. I still maintain that chasing a dozen balances simultaneously with a dozen different types of items is where the issue lies - I like that herbs and pipes are on the same balance, for example, even though different afflictions block them. Why not have sparkleberry and healing scrolls on the same balance in a similar way, though perhaps with slightly different effects, rather than having twice as much healing as the baseline for combat balance?

Another thing I'd very much like to see is basic versions of 'essential' skills for combat obtainable by people with Transcendant guild skills but only, say, Adept level in common skillsets. That way they are invited to participate in somewhat achievable combat before investing vast amounts of capital.

Things like a lesser version of Contemplation in the guild skillsets that rely upon mana levels for certain skills such as Absolve, Toadcurse and so on, that might consume equilibrium or give percentages rather than actual amounts. A lesser version of Tumble early in Environment that takes twice as long to complete, or consumes a lot of mana, or something. A lesser version of Climbing in Nature (or Druidry) that might consume balance, and a version of Clinging in Druidry that allows Druids to stay in the tree elevation in their own demesne. I don't know if there's anything essential in very high level Combat for warriors, but if so, a lesser version would be nice as well. Making sure that Resilience and Magic provide near-linear increase in benefit per rank, rather than lessons invested might be a nice improvement in weathering high-damage classes as well.

^ This - I hate melds with a passion, I'd love mages or druids to be more singular and less an absolute requirement for group combat.

Everyone who's realized that stat scaling is pretty poor right now.

IDEA!

When streamlining combat, why don't we make stun immunity actually WORTH something? As far as I see it, it basically goes you get stunned by a warrior or whatever, you have a .5 second immunity and then it wears off, they have balance and can stun you again. Why this is the case is beyond me but needs drastic changing. Maybe into some sort of useful mechanic? Maybe?

Too bad 16/14 at demigod is a long way from the top of the scale. Other things also are a factor like song time based on charisma for instance, or bards having dodging/godly illusoryself and are inherently tanky.

Irontongue just suck. Like seasingers suck. Just for different reasons.

Stun time immunity is equal to 1/2 the time stunned after stun wears off and lasts the entire time while you're stunned, so while it would have no effect on breakchest or brokennose stuns (1 second and .75 seconds, I think, someone correct me on those), it means bonecrusher/axelord knockdown (2 seconds and 3 seconds, respectively) stuns can't keep you out of the fight forever because with my AL stun, I can regain balance before you unstun.

Also, think of knockdown + mage demesne + ripple, if you didn't have stun immunity in those situations, you might literally spend the entire fight stunned. So yes, it's actually very useful.

There are currently two items a person needs to purchase.
Faeleaf to smoke for aura of rebounding
Scroll of protection to protect against Druids.

There is no real legitimate reason, why these need to be two separate items.

If you want to get rid of the smoking faeleaf so you just have the scroll of protection which also puts up an aura of rebounding, then that's fine too.

What.

Faeleaf is so much cheaper and easier to access than a protection scroll!

Go away, bookbinders/enchanters. Faeleaf is better.

Also: Do you really want to burn your EQ just to get rebounding, which is... razeable? And goes away when you attack?

Not to mention do you want every druid, mage, monk, and warrior stripping your "rebounding" constantly? I mean I am sure the warriors/monks would love it if druids/mages could knock your rebounding off. It would mean they never have to worry about hitting it in group fights. Druids/mages as well would love monks/warriors stripping it so their melds hit constantly.

There is a reason for the two different mechanics, just like there is a reason that you don't have one herb called "mario's magic mushroom" that cures all afflictions (and is the only thing you need to cure afflictions.)

... I want that herb.

Unfortunately, Krellan would hoard it so that it would be worth 500gp per, as nobody else would be able to harvest any. Ever.

Allheale in mushroom form?

Allheale doesn't cure all afflictions and has a long balance so it wouldn't actually improve anything

I'd just like to say: Please to not nerf my meld. It's the only thing I have going for me. Also, a six-ten room meld would make it problematic, at BEST to use when defending Celestia, at the least...

The enemy/ally thing is kind of awkward, especially when I have no way offhand of making sure that I don't get Lusted by enemies without simultaneously making me enemy allies (I couldn't activate my melds in a defensive raid the other night because Veyrzhul's love potion kept hitting me, which my reflexes then sent him straight to my enemy list. And for some reason it did this even though he was an ally, though that may have been from Ilyarin's plugins...)

There are different activation costs and a great many mechanics and balance considerations made around the fact that these each have different activation costs. This suggestion is entirely non-trivial.

I'm quite sure it would be a rather enormous job, but another thought for improving combat might be to run through all the attacks that denizens use in PvE and try to replace as many as possible with existing pvp guild skill messages and afflictions.

That way as players are levelling up, they're also learning the skills (and system tricks) that they will need in PvP combat, perhaps?

I'd really love to get away from -simplifying- combat as a part of this. Real problems should be taken care of; needing an additional item or two or keeping track of balances is not a problem, or shouldn't be.

I think a good example of how combat was streamlined was the paralysis focus time problem that was fixed a while ago. Little things like that were really bringing up the costs of making a character that stood a decent chance of survival in pvp. Damage scaling is going to be looked at so less one shot kills sort of thing.
What I think of when streamlining is mentioned is all the skills you have to trans or near trans. Get green/gedulah so you don't get greenlocked, but having trans resilience so its hard to get senso locked in the first place is pretty useful, even though it doesn't add any new abilities. I remember telling somebody I had a hard time with succumb (a long time ago, when on its first tic before the cure kicked in it would drain more than Lash , its probably fixed now) and I was told having lessons in Magic lowers the amount drained per tic. Uh.. I don't have that many credits, I know I'm never going invest credits in a ability-less skill like that. Some people keep saying the credit investment needed to get into combat here is much higher than other IRE games. Fix that?
Taking out redundant afflictions is good(I'm totally all for it), but its really not going to make much of a difference to the guys who are starting to try pvp out. "No more numbed body parts? That's great!... What does that mean?".
Don't simplify lusty combat cause that's what makes it interesting. And I say that as somebody who has always sucked at it heh. Just make it easier to get into I guess without messing around too much with the actual mechanics. Except maybe melds, I dunno. Never played a druid/mage.