Let's all condie.

The following are some ideas I have had that would help ME to play a character to condeath. I am curious to hear what the rest of you think. If none of you like these ideas at all then maybe I am playing the wrong game and FL does not need any changes. If a lot of you agree with me, maybe we could impement some changes to help characters play themselves out to the end.

We all want rares to compete, mundanes just pretty much suck and despite how many rares are available or not, you will always have the UBER decked and the underdressed alike. Also, I have noticed that for most people, your equipment determines the way you PK. When we are in crap EQ and feel like we have "nothing to lose" we will often go all out, and sometimes it works. When we are decked, it is like we are protecting a lead in sports. We will do enough to win, without risking our nice shiny set. Or we buy life insurance just incase if we are caballed.

I think we should start implementing custom eq. At creation you should get a token. This token can be cashed in to an Immortal in exchange for a custom piece of eq. It can be for any slot that is not a weapon, shield or light. You choose your own string and use plenty of colour as well. The stats will be equivalent to a good rare so it will suit you right up to pinnacle. The stats will be based on your race/class and will be decided in tandem with you and the immortal based on a point system so that everyones custom eq is equal in power. When you reach the 25th rank you gain another token, and again at level 50.

Now you are a pinn and you have three pieces of signature custom eq that is burnproof, nodrop, nouncurse, and NOT rare. These items will stay with you forever. They will help to make each character a little bit more unique and provide you with a bit of a base for those oh so crippling full loots. I also think anyone who reaches T in a cabal should get a 4th token for an item, and a 5th for L in a cabal. I really think this would add flavour to the game, be an added RP tool since you can actually have that crested cloak without it just being in your description, and make a bounceback a bit easier. I do not think it would make anyone OP at all since Uber rares and uniques are still better, and it wont interfere with disarming and shield disarming or thieves prying your light since those slots cannot be taken.

I also think that consumables need to be looked at overall and perhaps overhauled. Right now the best consumables are found on the ground and cater hugely to those who have more time on their hands. Someone who logs for hours a day can easily hoard dozens of nymph hearts and red and white staffs as well as herbs from all over, someone with less playtime is just not going to be able to compete, and they play an ENORMOUS role in pk victories.

Cabal eq: I know it has been made more affordable, but it is still too expensive. We cannot even find out what they do anymore without buying them (unless you have identify?). I used to recite that scroll from Miruhvor and browse all the items, that does not seem to work anymore :confused:

I can count on my hand the number of times I have died and not had all my cabal gear sacrificed, that is thousands of CP's down the drain in a second, seems pretty unfair and for me has led to quite a few rage deletes.

Lastly, players REALLY thrive from Imm attention. There just is not enough of it. The plots do not have to be earth shattering, but just to know that someone up there knows you exist and interacts with you would really help character longevity.

I think a combination of these changes would help towards leveling the playing field a bit, take some of the fear of death away, and promote longer lived characters among the non-elites.

I am very curious to hear the playerbase thoughts on this.

I do not think that everyone should just be given an owner only piece of gear. Thats really a bit heavy. I do agree with a larger emphasis on RP rewards, though I feel that a badass title/owner only/tattoo is worth five times a cabal promo for pk. I think maybe you should get these tokens for excellent pk, and excellent RP. The tokens should be owner only nodrops. You might have an imm "store" where they can be spent on things from titles, to experience, to even equipment for larger amounts of tokens. But I do not think everyone should be guaranteed a nice owner only. I remember anume renamed a plain non rare blue bracer when I played an invoker ages ago. I used that bracer until the day I decided to throw in the towel (which I did with less than 5 deaths left) I would not have traded that bracer for any piece of gear that exists strictly because I felt it was worth more than anything in the lands. Same goes with Dragons. If I am a non archery character, I will never remove the dragon, even if its the armor one on a mage, strictly because I feel that the effort I put into my rp, or desc, or note, or app was rewarded with something few people get.

What would help you condie more characters then Nameless?

Quick thoughts:

herbs available from shop. Or farm perk that was proposed a while back. I liked the farming idea.

Mob that sells custom gear. Has AC of base rares and then can be customized with gold (add hr/dr, saves vs X, more AC, hp, etc). Non rare.

Or just remove all uber gear from game. Nuke Gear, Winter, Deso, etc. But people like these places and I don't blame them. Instead of removing them, raise the base equipment MUCH closer to the uber gear.

I think more and more of us are falling into the category of 'not as much time' anymore. I've had a long day and want to log on and play. Play does not mean spend two hours on trips to some far away place. But its still an option for those that want the edge, cooler equip, etc. Yet it doesn't create the massive gap between players that exists now.

I'll never give up from being outplayed. I'll think long and hard on tactics to overcome what beat me. I love that ****. I give up from being constantly out geared.

When we are decked' date=' it is like we are protecting a lead in sports.[/quote']

Haha pretty funny. But I believe this has more to do with the difficulty in obtaining another similar set than anything else.

Custom eq a bad idea. It takes away the very atmosphere fl has had for such a long time. However a few pieces here and there for outstanding rp is a great idea. And I'm talking about useful custom eq not those that are easily replaced by gear you'll nearly always have anyway. I remember getting some custom leggings once and it was barely better than the double plating leggings (do these even exist anymore?) while that particular character was usually in higher quality leggings.

What would help you condie more characters then Nameless?

May I please refer everyone to THIS thread again.

I like many of your points too.

I also do not understand why people are against owner only cool items. We are talking about 3 items here at most? Would you lose so much of your edge if that enemy newb has an owner only adeptus mask/nimbus while the rest of his EQ is still basic?

Once again, REAL REWARDS for RP. The better and more persistent the RP - the bigger the reward. There are enough rewards for PK already and NONE for RP.

@Bert a huge part of consumables is already sold in shops. The biggest factor in gathering consumables is how lazy the player is. Sometimes I would have tons of time and I would not gather a single pill, sometimes I would have less than an hour and I would fill a whole bag. The problems which you are talking about, Bert, are the problems which a new player usually faces.

The problems which Reccum talks about are problems about gameplay.

Immortals have already taken a few big steps into changing the mud so it can fit the new environment better - xp bonus, cheaper cabal items. I am sure they are working on something like this too.

Out of curiousity, how many of us use lockers? I know I don't have my hand raised. For anyone who has taken the time to go id'ing things (and that recent thread about 'equipping your lvl 50 has the list you want' or gone and id'd Virigoth's list of saves eq you already know what is non-rare and how to get it easily. Shoving it in a locker and gold farming to keep it is pretty easy - but I don't think almost anyone does it. I know I always 'mean' to but never do.

I don't like the idea of 'owner only' as someone will work out a 'cute' way to abuse it - esp if you allow rares to be owner only. Trithiax with non-rare owner only mask of discord and nimbus. No thanks.

I woudl be so surprsied if a warrior with a few good waeposn couldn't fight and compete (on hit/dam at least) with only non-rare gear.

Then there is the moderate tier which I barely see anyone play. Against an easy way never to lose gear (including your cabal gear!!!!!!). Something I'd love to check out but never do - and I never use some of the best cabal gear because I lose it so fast. I said I'd never play a moderate but I think I just found a reason to.

I think if many of us made use of some of the mechanics given to use to made the game 'easier' it wouldn't be as hard as we make it on ourselves (I'm on of these people in a BIG BIG way).

As for getting to condeath - I've done it once and it was more a self dicipline thing in always logging on one character and not playing others. It still takes a while but you'd be surprised just how much you learn and what you can do on a class you time on. You can't make things second nature overnight - even a skilled PK'r can't. It takes time to get it all right.

I'm trying to take my current to condeath again -and it should take a long while but we'll see. That isn't to say I don't want to play alt's but I'm dam well not logging them on right now.

Stay tuned on that one....

Consumables are a balancing act - make them too easy and melee's get more power and clerics don't. Too hard melee's get harder. Personally I don't play a lot more than the minimum hours and I don't have a great deal of issues getting enough. I am always on a mission when not fighting to collect them though. Work out a 'run' around the realms and make yourself do it three times every log on. You will build and keep a stockpile.

L-A

I don't like the idea of 'owner only' as someone will work out a 'cute' way to abuse it - esp if you allow rares to be owner only. Trithiax with non-rare owner only mask of discord and nimbus. No thanks.

You are looking at things from the wrong angle.

If Trix was playing actively he would have those anyway. The one who wouldn't have them though, is your newbie/average player. This change would help them the most and it would shrink the gap between the vets and the less experienced without taking away the "cool" part of the game. It would give the newbie a chance to actually keep that piece of gear, which he has dreamed of for so long and never had before, for more than a day.

I'd also like to see some of the better PKers trying weak/odd combinations.

Anyone can steamroll with an ogre ranger watcher (or ogre anything). Everyone will go 'wow, what a strong/skilled/great char', but we know the truth. Try it next time as an h-elf.

If you can usually pull a 5-1 or 10-1 record, you should be trying something harder. A lot more fun for everyone then.

Think you are good? Try playing a mage with 8 strength. Do special challenges like that.

Meh - Why the hell not. EVERYONE gets it. Level playing field. We have to move away from the mentality that everyone has of 'protecting their own patch' by not letting anyone close the gap or make life easier.

RE: Fighting styles and eq - Its not that the equipment itself is hard to get, its the fact that items are rare and unique. When I was playing heavily I would set myself one target when entering a cabal. It wasnt to achieve this rank by this time, it was to make sure I had finished my 'set' within a span of one and a half months. Two rare purges. One and a half months? **** thats a lot of time.

RE: LA - When I play a Watcher I ALWAYS have a locker full of gear. Ready for PK for the simple reason that fighting Tribunals is the only cabal with a GUARANTEED full loot.

And why would the immortals give out those sort of items?

I was thinking along the lines of moderate armor +2 hit dam sleeves.

Or hp boots. OR something small.

Christ. Talk about over the top.

I'd also like to see some of the better PKers trying weak/odd combinations.

Everyone will go 'wow, what a strong/skilled/great char', but we know the truth. Try it next time as an h-elf.

Now, if I want to play something that is so nerfed I would apply for a fire giant DKN. Smart players mix their race/class/cabal selection so they can get a bigger edge and cover their vulns. If you say that is not how it is supposed to be, then I would point you to the fact that RP will not kill your cabal enemy. RP won't get you his standard. Hell, you want people to give up their PK edge in a PK heavy mud, which rewards PK better than RP.

Anyone can steamroll with an ogre ranger watcher (or ogre anything).

Now that is not true. How many ogre ranger reaves have we seen after Trix? How many of them were as successful as him? Hell, even Mindflayer's ogre ranger reaver didn't make much of an impact. I found that ogre rangers just don't suit my playstyle, perhaps he ended up with the same conclusion.

I'd also like to see some of the better PKers trying weak/odd combinations.

Meh, I do this all the time, up to a point. That's why I'll never roll a demon dk or another ogre warrior. But its pretty retarded losing over and over to the guy that rolled those power combos.

I guess my point was that if you have an easy time winning, why not challenge yourself a bit? Winning with a great combo isn't worth very much. I don't know about you, but I want to roll my eyes every time I see an ogre ranger in any cabal. I think Mindflayer's ogre ranger was just as powerful (if not moreso) as Triathix, but as we all know, MF goes through chars almost as fast as Valek () over there, so he was like a flash in the pan.

Yes, it is all about PK and all the things you've mentioned and I do want PK elites to challenge themselves. After rolling a few of those powerhouses, I think those 'elite' players should try to win from a disadvantage (e.g. bad combo or purposely low stats/skills) to show how 'elite' they really are. You might be very surprised!

I didn't really mean to get into specific combos, but doing well with a strong combo (e.g. ogre ranger/any evil cleric) isn't nearly as impressive as doing well under adverse conditions.

Of course, if you are having a hard time enough as it is, don't make things harder. I do think there are a few players who are ready for the next level though, instead of beating the game on easy again and again.

Meh, Messi will never go play for Manchester City despite them offering him an empty check.

Having an edge is human nature Cel.

By your logic you can as well try to PK in non rare suit, just for the challenge. If you have money you will prefer to roll in a Rolce Royce, not in a Ford. If you have skill to obtain the shinies, you will wear them. If you have the patience/knowledge to achieve the power combo, why play something gimped? Yes, there are some people who will roll that odd combo just to RP with it, but who will take them seriously? Who will stop to RP when there is a cabal enemy on?

That is why characters who feel REAL due to their RP should be heavily rewarded. Especially if those characters are obviosly created for pure RP.

You know, if I was an IMM in the time when Irpel played, I would have given him an IMM weapon with 150 average damage.

problem with cabal gear is *******s that sacrifice it.

I mean really, why do people do this, it is just a "man I can REALLY ruin your day and make you not wanna login" move if I ever saw one.

I recently died in a 3 v 1 and they sacrificed probably 10k cp worth of cabal gear. Now, as a player meh, I have a lot invested in the charater so I wont delete or anything..but man..what a total unneccesary bummer. I am sure that if I had not already put 500+ hours into the character I would of just said screw-it and gone back to playing demon's souls every night.

I'll just say so much as a little teaser:

Two things to come, one for cabals, one for everyone (this one will take a bit longer though) that will make getting gear a lot less of a problem.

I'll just say so much as a little teaser:

Two things to come, one for cabals, one for everyone (this one will take a bit longer though) that will make getting gear a lot less of a problem.

OMG! You are such a tease.

Anyone got a $50 for the cute IMP?

How does custom eq = owner only adeptus/nimbus?!?

My idea for custom eq is not to restring uber rares and uniques and make them non-rare. It was to give people a few pieces of eq that would suit their character, something along the power lines of a mediocre rare. IE Eog bodyarmor, or minor globe etc...

I think making custom owner only EQ would really make me tell you to roll a crusader because thats the whole selling point of that class.