If some of you have noticed the heavy trend of players to just log off when ninjas are on, particularly good ones. When this happens I don't feel that anyone wins, the ninja loses, the opponent loses, and the game loses. And with the change to losing study on logout, the opponent is even more encouraged to log off. The strategy becomes I can't beat the ninja within 10-15 ticks so I log off for maybe 15-20 minutes then log back in. Encouragement of ooc anyone?
Idea 1: Yet another idea I'd want to propose stems from a conversation I had with another vet here. We thought about the assassinate skill either changing to a skill that is more like behead or deathblow. Where it does minor to major damage (depending on amount of study) initially and if the opponent is already below a certain percentage of hp it has the possibility to kill in one hit. This can be applied to all ninjas or a certain ninjitsu path.
Idea 2: The study skill can change to buff ninja abilities against said opponent similar to how monk and blademaster anatomies work. Maybe people won't log off so much when they feel so powerless to a one hit kill.
Idea 3: The study/assassinate skill as it is now can be designated as a separate selectable paths. Thereby keeping the strategy around for those who find it more fun.
Idea 4: Study should have a timer attached to it similar to how there is a timer attached to you after battling someone and you try to go into your cabal. How it works: You, the ninja, are trying to study a Savant in the ford while he is fighting a Warmaster. When the tick comes you get some type of a message saying 'not while he is in combat'. However this protection should last roughly 6 ticks after a battle. Reasoning for this: Studying someone while they are fighting someone else is cheap and indirectly akin to ganging. To re-iterate, current strategy encourages people to log out or not fight cabal wars or do so in a very passive way, which I believe doesn't benefit anyone.
While I agree assassinate should be changed, I do not agree that it should exist in it's current form in anyway.
I massively prefer the idea that studying increases offense/defense against that particular target -- With a full study making them much, much stronger against a particular opponent. Something akin to 60% evading more attacks and 50% more accuracy.
I like the first idea, however I do not quite agree with it. A ninja that chooses the path of study/assassinate cannot survive in battle long enough. It is just like how thieves can backstab/dual backstab someone and still get meleed to death.
I like the idea of it being a more efficient version of deathblow or behead (although I've never seen the instant kill effect proc for either on a non-mob).
That said, I do think I would miss the "killer in the shadows" vibe that ninjas have. On the whole, I think ninjas could use some attention, but I don't have any specific ideas at the moment.
I realize many log out when they see a ninja. I like the ninja assassinate skill. It reminds us that there is danger in those shadows. I do not log out because I see a ninja in the who list, I do not log out because I see ANYONE in the who list. For me, the who list is a tool, but a tool that lends itself to OOC information. I have heard the argument "Well just think of it as your character heard from commoners that these other heroes of these certain guilds and races are walking the lands currently." I can accept that the who list is not OOC based on that. My characters, weak as they often are, do not believe themselves to be so weak that some assassin is going to kill me outright. To log off because your player knowledge tells you that the assassin could assinate you in one strike, is completely out of character. We are given a multitude of lives for a reason. Take one for the team for Anume's sake. LOL. Stop worrying that you might lose that shiny item. For Morlhach's sake, stop logging off because you might not win! For Volgathras' sake, raise some havoc! For Tongar's sake, win or lose, but go down fighting instead of avoiding interaction. Just my 2 cents.
I realize many log out when they see a ninja. I like the ninja assassinate skill. It reminds us that there is danger in those shadows. I do not log out because I see a ninja in the who list, I do not log out because I see ANYONE in the who list. For me, the who list is a tool, but a tool that lends itself to OOC information. I have heard the argument "Well just think of it as your character heard from commoners that these other heroes of these certain guilds and races are walking the lands currently." I can accept that the who list is not OOC based on that. My characters, weak as they often are, do not believe themselves to be so weak that some assassin is going to kill me outright. To log off because your player knowledge tells you that the assassin could assinate you in one strike, is completely out of character. We are given a multitude of lives for a reason. Take one for the team for Anume's sake. LOL. Stop worrying that you might lose that shiny item. For Morlhach's sake, stop logging off because you might not win! For Volgathras' sake, raise some havoc! For Tongar's sake, win or lose, but go down fighting instead of avoiding interaction. Just my 2 cents.
You're saying that logging off from the fear of assassination is avoiding interaction. We're saying that logging off from the fear of assassination is avoiding interaction. Everyone here agrees on that fact.
Also, its not out of character to know that an assassin could kill you in one strike. Not at all. A sniper can kill someone with a single shot from a mile away. I know this. Just because I can't do it myself doesn't mean I don't know that they can.
Yes let's all stop worrying about equipment that may have taken you weeks to get! Lets all take one, two, or a dozen for the team! Lets not use the who list or where command! Lets all get assassinated by ninajs! RAWR?!! Who's with me!?
Ikuzachi could use some work too. I posted an idea for it a while ago but it didn't go anywhere. I definitely like the study = greater hit/dam. I'd love to see assassinate removed and ninjas offensive capabilities bolstered with a re-work of study and ikazuchi (or ikuzachi - whatever it is).
