I think we should be able to make a neutral monk. I don't understand the reasoning behind just being able to choose good or evil.. When I think of a monk, I think of them being neutral anyway, not really choosing a side.
Neutral Monks
We've made mention several times of the balance issues for a neutral monk. In order to make them non-game-breaking, we'd have to nerf any neutral monk in to oblivion.
Look at the monk we have running around now. Imagine him with no EQ restrictions, as well as other cabal combos that'd probably make him even more of a powerhouse.
This is unfortunately an issue in which the logic behind it (and personally, I'm all for neutral monks from an RP perspective) cannot overcome the balance issues as they are presently.
Of course, we will revisit neutral monks in the future if the situation changes. As it stands, though, there are other projects which closer scrutiny and balancing would be of further use.
What if we made tree stance? Monks stand there invulnerable to all attacks until the noun is "chop"...? And if the weather is right, a gust of wind will force a branch into said attacker..?
Sounds good. Tongar and Morlhach, get to work.
Sounds like a change to a druid spell.
Zoichan hurts enough as is. Make him neutral so there is no 'protect align' help vs his damage output? No thanks. OOO!!! Make him neutral so he can go watcher and chii bolt off protective shield then get a four round green dragon bash! No thanks. Sure, he'd lose that little annoying skill of his, but there are cabal skills that do similar (and even more devastating) affects.
My poll on the subject has shown that 77% of the playerbase are in support of neutral monks.
I think it's time for the staff to listen to the playerbase on issues like this instead of making up reasons to shut it down.
When monks were introduced, they were a neutral class. There were no balance issues.
People want to play it. It takes virtually no coding. Any balance issues that arise may be addressed at that time.
In my view if Monks go neutral, they need a change.
They have received two power up recently.
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Dragon which is the go to stance 80% of times can disarm through cursed weapons.
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Offensive Monks, can second parry at a lower %.
Monks are insane vs some classes, like medium sized C/C.
And the only thing that aids vs them is the new perk.
Short 100% hide, 100% camouflage, 100% sneak, 100% quiet movement, 103% max hide/camo/sneak/quiet movement, 5% better chance to hide and camouflage, 101% max dodge, 25% less trip lag and trample lag
My Paladins used to have 0 trouble vs monks. You wielded a polearm and bam, he could not break that defense with ease.
Now, with cursed disarm, it's a pain. Because when he disarms you, you will start eating melee attacks which equate to chakeras leading to LAG.
One vicious cicle. That is if they don't disarm you while you are still are bolt-lagged.
is that that poll with 77 percent of the answers are favorable to neutral monks?
A neutral monk Watcher warder would be insanely powerful, much more so than Zoichan.
I think that's going a little overboard since Zoichan is undead. I don't even think warder would break the class. I get the eq align boundaries, but a lot of good stuff is anti neutral also.
I also want to add that neutrals don't get protection from monks and if monks were neutral they couldn't use protection. The only way to know if it is op is to test it out, and let someone test out the waters.
That makes a lot of sense Dale. The testing of one.
Perhaps it's time someone applies for a monk Watcher.
A stalker monk might be OP as hell though, now that I think about it.
Same with watcher monk, especially warder. That would be game breaking. I will test one out and show you if you want. 
Mya: As a dwarf cleric, monks were outdamaged even without casting. There was even a case where I was lagged out for several minutes and the monk couldn't win (not the Forsaken's Nexus monk, but another player's right before...).
Monks have a power niche, but it is tight and requires more skill to maintain an at par character. A monk doing well is more a sign of a great player than the monk class's power. A monk player can't ever dominate for any real length of time due to some pretty insurmountable weaknesses inherent in the class..much like paladins. The same player could do much better playing as a blademaster or cleric, for instance.
A neutral monk being more OP than a cleric, blademaster, or ogre ranger/warrior? I really, really doubt it. There are literally dozens of combos that are already available that are more powerful than a neutral monk.
Protection is a weak argument as it works both ways, and monks are already one of the weakest classes in terms of staying power even with protection.
Sure, a right combo and player might do well, but the same applies to any decent combo that is already available.
Testing it out with a few players is always suspect as it relies too much on the skill of the testing players. It would be much better to open monks up and then later revert or rebalance if things are as bad as the staff seems to think.
While we are at it, please rebalance monk stances so that monks stances other than dragon are useful in more situations--especially defensive ones. If you want a design template, just send the request.
Edit: And since when did we consider CABALS when balancing classes? If we are considering classes being strong or weak based on combinations with cabals (which I have long advocated!!), there is a LONG list of major rebalancing that needs to be done. Until now, classes have been balanced as if they were uncaballed and at 50. If a cabal causes a conflict with the class, it can be balanced by not allowing that class to join the cabal or by tweaking the cabal synergy (like barbarian monks)--not by denying the existence of the class because the cabal powers exist.
This is one of the few issues that Celerity and I agree upon. Now get er' done!
Mya: As a dwarf cleric' date=' monks were outdamaged even without casting. There was even a case where I was lagged out for several minutes and the monk couldn't win (not the Forsaken's Nexus monk, but another player's right before...).[/quote']
A dwarven combat cleric vs an evil monk is a somewhat particular case.
You are speaking of a ~1200 HP beast (more than one of my zerks), with magical resistance against chakera damage and a full out Hit/Dam gear focused on offensive meele.
Trying the same thing with a human or elven/drow cleric will be harder.
But you are right. Monk power depends on the skill of the player. I couldn't Pk anything worth if I was playing a monk.
And you also right on defensive stances. They on my view are not worth it at Pinacle. You can't do anything in them that would not work better in offensive.
Except be immune to blackjack, strangle, assassination, sleep, bash, trip, and bodyslam; and the ability to disappear from who and where.
immune to blackjack -> Poison
, strangle -> Poison
, assassination -> Dam, never though of that use for mantis.
, sleep -> Poison
, bash -> Dragon + enlarge = +2 size, wich give good resistance
, trip -> Flight scroll or wand
, and bodyslam -> See dragon.
; and the ability to disappear from who and where. --> Anyone can do that, and better.
So what really leaves is Assassination prevention and total bash/bodyslam lag immunity, which i don't think is better than dragon enlargement.
A monk must go offensive or they will die in melee/assassinate eventually to a ninja or thief. I was able to kill an equipped Scholin (twice? three times?) at elder in melee with a drow ninja without too much trouble. Monks can't survive any attrition making them easy to kill for any melee that can poison unless they can get a lag lock (offensive) and outdamage.
Defensive has a very limited role in evading fights (which a monk must do often due to aforementioned weaknesses)..but that is no plan to win them.
Monks have a power niche' date=' but it is tight and requires more skill to maintain an at par character. A monk doing well is more a sign of a great player than the monk class's power.[/quote']
I strongly agree with Celerity and I'll cite an example. Zoichan's success is tribute to his knowledge of the class, knowledge of crucial consumables, cabal equipment/skill synergy with said race/class combo, and general PK experience. He knows what skills to open with, when to use others, and how to run when he needs to. Monks are very much about laying the lag down in the right order and timing the lag extremely well. Most people believe that you just jump in there and wait for chakeras.. oh no, those are just icing on the cake my friend.
And while we're asking for classes, I'll take a neutral gnome necromancer that animates constructs, not zombies please. That would be cool to play. Good day.