Standardizing stupidity lines was considered and passed over.

secondary lines are fine... but they should be secondary. There should only be 1 primary line per affliction. (all the cool flavor lines should be kept, as they are cool and fun to discover)

It's definitely something we had considered. There was an issue with illusions which we needed to discuss among ourselves so it never made it to the final list--but that's not to say the idea still may not be implemented!

I think you're mis-understanding terminology, and are thus confusing everyone.

Xenthos swing a rapier at you, causing an artery in your left arm to spurt blood. <-- Primary line. (No, not the actual primary line, just in general)
Left arm artery severed. <-- Secondary affliction line. (They can come up with something better, I'm sure).

See? First, second.

Just a question, but; what is the issue with illusions? An illusionist could spam the trigger lines together to screw someone up, sure (less so if the envoy balancing for Programmed goes through), but that's when you start adding in illusion protection (you can harvest the lines to enable the "affliction check" folder, and then start getting into a really complex and "perfect" system, but it's all still based around a small and smooth core).

Since we haven't discussed it, I can't really say at this time.

All right.

Well, those 3 things make my list for "Most Important Items For Streamlining Combat."

Past that, I think the warrior weapons damage thing is important just from an "urgently needed for balance" standpoint.

I'm curious in exactly how you'd changed dissolve. Just, as it is now, but it just also breaks shields? Because currently since dissolve doesn't need equilibrium you can already do nullify+dissolve so basically the same thing.

I could just set a trigger to auto dissolve shields whenever I hit them if I could break them off EQ if it were changed like that.

I believe a note was made that it was a little OP, but on to the subject of time-slowing/passive afflictions!

I'm not sure how'd we change it if we do change it! Perhaps tell us how you think we should?

gotcha, sorry, I was thinking of priority, not order. As in the primary line is telling you what affliction you have, and the secondary lines are flavor.

I suppose the more relevant question is; why change it? You could make void 2s or so instead, without introducing possible balance issues with a skill that works while off-equilibrium. This would make the skill much better to use in bashing (currently, caster classes sit around waiting for the mob to attack, whereas Warriors / Monks just raze / cleave and continue). It nerfs shield a bit as a defensive skill, but it's never really been majorly effective in a group fight anyways (mostly put it up and hope a few people bounce off it before someone razes).

In 1v1, you do have people who just shield to slow down a caster class... but... well... they still could. Just a bit less effectively. Not a huge balance impact, I think.

@Daganev: Yes, I figured that's what you were going for, hence my comment on mixed-up terminology.

Personally I think it's fine as is. Since it doesn't need EQ I have it tacked onto the end of most of my attack aliases so dealing with protection is never really an issue.

Now maybe if you made it take EQ, but also strip love potion, that'd be something I'd love to see. <3

The issue is (presumably) based around the limitations on quick illusions - the ones that can be done off-balance and make up the core of custom illusion offense. 160 characters (2 standard lines) is the main one. If you want to force a linebreak with \\nl, it's 2p (same as for improved/programmed illusions, just without the character limit). If you add in secondary lines, people with a decent system will be checking for the starting lines and the secondaries - which would almost definitely get out of the range of a quick illusion and would cost 2p to mimic even if it didn't. Pretty big nerf to illusions, which is sad as I know that the secondaries would definitely help a lot of people.

make the first \\nl free?

I'm going to be blunt.

I want to say this is a joke. So much of this "report" has little/nothing to do with making combat simpler and more accessible.

Demesnes have been and will remain an issue regarding group combat, and while limiting demesne size AND how affects hit will certainly address some issues regarding demesne holder "god mode" and demesne fortress situations, it really has little affect on players trying to gain access to a system with a steep learning curve. I mean, it seems like some small attempt was made to address the complexity of the system in place, but getting rid of things like loneliness and combining pacifism and whatever will have such an insignificant impact on the combat system you might as well not waste your time and leave them.

The issues with combat are simple, in my eyes.

1-Damage outliers need to be drawn in. Those that stack damage to unmanageable levels. This includes arties, karma blessing of war, and any and all things that amplify damage. Scaling needs to be far more harsh on the upper levels. The issue is mostly with warriors (and I include speed/wound scaling as well), but also for a few individuals such as Xiel as an SS and Ceren as a Geomancer. People do not get involved if they die in seconds, even at a mid to high levels.

2-The lesson cost is too high and too many trans skills are required, though I don't believe the Admin agree with this. For most classes you need trans discipline, combat, and resilience to be competitive. Then a pile of other things to be high tier.

3- Across the board reduction in commodities regarding all cures that come from a keg would really help lower the in game cost for those looking to buy cures and get involved. It's not so much the cost individually (though 1000 per quicksilver vial is very common and way too much for something that is stripped at a warrior's whim) but when you need 16 different curatives in vials, it really, really adds up fast. Herbs are in the hands of players, and certain players (i.e. Krellan) really gouge prices and make it difficult for those wanting to get involved to afford it.



Armor will simply complicate things, which should be fairly obvious. People may want it, but "robes or warrior" is pretty simple and straight forward.

Things like "first aid," damage scaling, potionlist summary, as well as tanking imbalances as far as mobs goes are great ideas that are headed in the right direction. Though, if you really wanted to address bashing as a whole, the core issue is speed/critical hits where warriors still reign supreme in a big way.

What really rubs me the wrong way is that some people used this report as an attempt to address balance issues and nerf skills (succumb/wane). What's worse is that instead of using the envoys like everyone else, the administration is allowing it, even admitting it's a balance issue. Regardless of whether it is needed (I'm fine with it mechanically), the admin should have sent them directly to the envoys and not given it another word, and certainly not included it in the "streamlining combat" report. You are sending a horrible, horrible message to the people that bitched about it.

For the record, there already is a message for when choke ends for caster and target. Misinformation ahoy!

edit: Oh, I forgot to mention. One major, major issue with Lusternia is the "I-win" skills that stop curing and cripple people. Crucify, pinleg, the abundance of stun/blackout, and to a lesser extent, choke. These things are way too powerful.

If you ask me regarding choke, I say move choke to a coven ability that requires 3 people, and replace choke with something suitable. What that thing is, I don't know, because aeon and sleep suck and I don't want to be an MD, but that's my solution to choke. Of course, that means succumb might need to stay.

I think one main idea about streamlining combat would be merging certain skills. For example I could see Resilience and Combat formed into one skill and Magic and Highmagic/Lowmagic.. I could also see Discipline and Environment being melded into one skill. However, the first two examples are much better as who wants to learn a skill which has no abilities? I think both Resilience and Magic make sense being merged into other skills.

I have to admit, Celina knows her stuff!
I have to agree with her! I like her number 3 point. It is really starting to hurt everyone. Strip harvesting is putting a damper on things. 2 is great, but won't change. That's how the admin make money. And 1 has ALWAYS been talked about but no one seems to want to fix! But she is right. Some changes don't seem to be needed like removing some afflictions. I will be sad to see demesnes go, but it is understandable. I never really stepped back and looked, but it does really center around melds and I finally understand why Malicia always yelled at me!

EDIT:
Oh and what Genos said is awesome too! Just get rid of Resilience and Magic. Throw Resilience in with like combat and magic in with...High/low magic?

1. I believe that's something we've said is going to be looked at.

2. Lesson cost is set by IRE and not me. However, I have been in talks with IRE to address these perceived concerns that Lusternia has a higher entry cost than other IRE games. I'm probably breaking confidences just by saying that much, but it's not something I've been purposefully ignoring, just something I have no control over.

3. What is your exact suggestion? What curatives would you get rid of? What exactly would be the reduction in commodities? (I assume you mean the ingredient cost to make some potions?) Don't be vague! Tell us specifics so we can consider. Vague statements like "reduce commodity cost" leaves us scratching our heads.

Those are things we've already considered! (I've been thinking about doing that for magic for awhile. Shhh.)