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OK, here's the latest batch of answers and comments and such from Atrathien.
On Aether Lance and the undead, the elements on the Plane of Abiding (where we all are) aren't pure elements, they're always tainted, if only a bit, by other elemental impurities. This includes the aether in the Aether Lance. Non-corporeal undead, however, are made up of pure aether; this violates the rules of this physical world, which is one of the reasons they're considered an abomination. Their pure aethereal bodies aren't affected by the impure elemental aether in the Aether Lance.
About possible elemental shields interfering with the Shield of Light, SoL is already in the game and therefore does have some priority. When Atrathien is ready to start working on elemental shield spells, he and Alnilam will make sure that the two kinds of spells are different enough so that neither will infringe upon the other.
Re: a status report on the TM system, Atrathien says "Tell them I've scrapped the TM system completely, and am working on the incredibly difficult daisy-picking system. I hope they like flowers, because their requirements will be changed to having to pick 10,000 of them per level." I think if we work at it, though, we can come up with a good reason for this to be modified that would convince Atrathien, since it obviously infringes upon the Rangers' foraging requirements. <hum>
Regarding various problems with the Guildleader code, he's got a list and he's going to be taking a look at that once the TM system's out of the way.
About the prep time thing, like the 22 second Arc Light, Atrathien says that it's a limitation of the system that the game is based on, not something that GMs have any control over. Basically, certain types of commands have priority over others. So, player X's "slice goblin" command is processed before player Y is messaged that their spell is fully prepared, assuming that both were to happen at exactly the same instant. If there are a lot of commands being processed, the "You feel fully prepared to cast your spell" message can be delayed for a few seconds. We know about that limitation, and can check for it. So, if you have waited the full time for a spell prep, but the system hasn't gotten around to messaging you yet, you aren't penalized for it. :)
About a book on the Way of Lanival, he's willing to do some brainstorming and see if we can produce one when he has some time. I.e., don't hold your breath, but it might pop up one day. :)
About TM learning being really hard when you're young and getting easier as you get older, that's one of the things the new system is going to fix.
Brandewynne
And these are the more general bugs, questions and concerns he's responded to so far. If you've posted a question in the last few weeks that hasn't gotten a response yet, please hang on. You've probably noticed I haven't finished all the topics yet (the ones I haven't posted in are basically the ones I still have to get to) so I'll be sending him some more old stuff with the next mailing. :)
BUG: Stealing from yourself inside the WM Guild gives odd messaging.
FIXED
RE: Guild meeting
The Warmage team will be having a meeting next week and will be discussing having an upcoming guild meeting, including whether or not we can/should get Zoha to come. :)
RE: Blacklark's meeting idea (too long to summarize)
Atrathien thinks that's a really great idea. :D He'll pass it along to the developers and see if anyone else has time to code the system. If not, he'd like to do it himself. Note that this doesn't mean it'll be ready for the next meeting. It probably won't. But it has a good chance of getting on someone's "list." ;)
RE: Earth Sense letting you reveal/point invisible people and paths
ES wasn't meant to allow you to reveal invisible people.
Also, allowing ES to reveal hidden pathways would require tracking down the owners of every hidden path, convincing them to allow it, and then modifying the code to allow it. It's an idea I haven't entirely ruled out, but I just haven't had the time for yet.
RE: spell idea to allow you to instantly climb something that's made from an "element"
There's no way to tell what a portal is made of, and even if we added
something, we'd have to go back and retrofit every single portal in the game. <shudders!> We also couldn't get approval for a spell that would allow you to get into an area you don't have the climbing skill for. The best we can do is a spell that provides a climbing boost, which Sure Footing does now. From Brandy: We have thousands, if not tens of thousands of portals (a direction where you have to GO/CLIMB) and every one of them would have to be retrofitted. I know most of them are just GOs, but once you've tagged something like that to an element you need to do them all or sure enough something will come along that requires the rest of them, and it's a worse job to go back and redo when it's only some rather than all. :P Anyway, this is a neat idea defeated by technical logistics.
RE: Water Purification planned as a pre-req for anything else?
At the moment, no I don't have any plans to make WP a pre-req. But if a spell idea comes along where WP would make sense as a pre-req for it, then it will be a pre-req. :)
RE: direct burden reducer spell
It isn't out of the question, but it can be problematic technically. He's given my permission to poke my nose into things burden-y, and see how difficult it would be. No immediate plans by it's not impossible, way down on the list, maybe. :)
RE: >>If you get the "You avoid most of the blast" message when you've been hit with Paeldryth's Wrath, is it reasonable to still be knocked down? It seems to me that if the blast of wind is 1000 miles/hour and you only get hit with 100 miles/hour of it, you're going down and therefore it makes sense, but some people complained about it as a bug and I wanted to check. :)<<
Nope, it's not a bug. :) There are two parts to PW: the damaging part and the pushing part. The damaging part is the more directed component of the blast, and the pushing part is the more diffuse component of the blast. If you're "standing" to one side, you can get hit by the more diffuse component and get the above message and not get any damage, but still get knocked down.
RE: question about a tweak to difficulty in targeting specific locations
The difficulty of individual locations hasn't changed in a long time. :)
>>Bug with Frostbite not doing any damage to the swarming hornets.<<
Adding it to the list. I think I know where the problem is, but I'll have to delve into the code a bit more. Could the people who noticed this put in a BUG report also, please?
RE: bug with WP in non-water areas
I'll fix it before it's put in the WM spell list, thanks. :)
RE: comment on feelings regarding non-magic users using runestones to train up magic skill
I don't care for it, no. But it's part of the system, and the powers that be have said the system will remain. <G>
RE: any nemirro stones that convert moon mana, and if so how do they work IC?
Yep, there are nemirro stones which convert moon mana into other forms of mana. They don't drive the moons out of their orbit :) but instead create a "field" within that room, which converts the mana before it becomes available to players.
RE: concerns about Paladin & Ranger spell effectiveness
Please repost this in Matter of Magic, since that's where it's most appropriate. We're not going to discuss it in the guild folders; it'd just mean half a dozen separate discussions and poor Atrathien would end up chewing holes in his walls. :)
RE: cambrinth on weapons
There are technical issues with this. Not saying it'll never happen, but it's not high on the priority list. :)
RE: "specializing" in a spell (CHOOSEing it more than once, spending extra slots on it) to increase its parameters
I don't really care for it, and I think players would prefer spells that change with more skill, rather than having to re-invest a spell slot in a spell they already know to get it to change.
RE: adding WM magic into forging stuff to get better quality weapons
Once we have an active forging guru again, I'll bring up the possibility.
RE: having more than one spell prepared at a time?
This isn't currently planned as a possibility, no.
RE: casting from hiding?
This isn't completely out of the picture, but it's not high on my
priority list, either.
RE: multi-targeting & existing spells
Yes, some existing spells will be modified to accomodate this. :)
RE: TM crits being MONSTERBOLD
Atrathien's going to check with the combat folks and see what it would take to do this.
Brandewynne
BUG: Stealing from yourself inside the WM Guild gives odd messaging.
FIXED
RE: Guild meeting
The Warmage team will be having a meeting next week and will be discussing having an upcoming guild meeting, including whether or not we can/should get Zoha to come. :)
RE: Blacklark's meeting idea (too long to summarize)
Atrathien thinks that's a really great idea. :D He'll pass it along to the developers and see if anyone else has time to code the system. If not, he'd like to do it himself. Note that this doesn't mean it'll be ready for the next meeting. It probably won't. But it has a good chance of getting on someone's "list." ;)
RE: Earth Sense letting you reveal/point invisible people and paths
ES wasn't meant to allow you to reveal invisible people.
Also, allowing ES to reveal hidden pathways would require tracking down the owners of every hidden path, convincing them to allow it, and then modifying the code to allow it. It's an idea I haven't entirely ruled out, but I just haven't had the time for yet.
RE: spell idea to allow you to instantly climb something that's made from an "element"
There's no way to tell what a portal is made of, and even if we added
something, we'd have to go back and retrofit every single portal in the game. <shudders!> We also couldn't get approval for a spell that would allow you to get into an area you don't have the climbing skill for. The best we can do is a spell that provides a climbing boost, which Sure Footing does now. From Brandy: We have thousands, if not tens of thousands of portals (a direction where you have to GO/CLIMB) and every one of them would have to be retrofitted. I know most of them are just GOs, but once you've tagged something like that to an element you need to do them all or sure enough something will come along that requires the rest of them, and it's a worse job to go back and redo when it's only some rather than all. :P Anyway, this is a neat idea defeated by technical logistics.
RE: Water Purification planned as a pre-req for anything else?
At the moment, no I don't have any plans to make WP a pre-req. But if a spell idea comes along where WP would make sense as a pre-req for it, then it will be a pre-req. :)
RE: direct burden reducer spell
It isn't out of the question, but it can be problematic technically. He's given my permission to poke my nose into things burden-y, and see how difficult it would be. No immediate plans by it's not impossible, way down on the list, maybe. :)
RE: >>If you get the "You avoid most of the blast" message when you've been hit with Paeldryth's Wrath, is it reasonable to still be knocked down? It seems to me that if the blast of wind is 1000 miles/hour and you only get hit with 100 miles/hour of it, you're going down and therefore it makes sense, but some people complained about it as a bug and I wanted to check. :)<<
Nope, it's not a bug. :) There are two parts to PW: the damaging part and the pushing part. The damaging part is the more directed component of the blast, and the pushing part is the more diffuse component of the blast. If you're "standing" to one side, you can get hit by the more diffuse component and get the above message and not get any damage, but still get knocked down.
RE: question about a tweak to difficulty in targeting specific locations
The difficulty of individual locations hasn't changed in a long time. :)
>>Bug with Frostbite not doing any damage to the swarming hornets.<<
Adding it to the list. I think I know where the problem is, but I'll have to delve into the code a bit more. Could the people who noticed this put in a BUG report also, please?
RE: bug with WP in non-water areas
I'll fix it before it's put in the WM spell list, thanks. :)
RE: comment on feelings regarding non-magic users using runestones to train up magic skill
I don't care for it, no. But it's part of the system, and the powers that be have said the system will remain. <G>
RE: any nemirro stones that convert moon mana, and if so how do they work IC?
Yep, there are nemirro stones which convert moon mana into other forms of mana. They don't drive the moons out of their orbit :) but instead create a "field" within that room, which converts the mana before it becomes available to players.
RE: concerns about Paladin & Ranger spell effectiveness
Please repost this in Matter of Magic, since that's where it's most appropriate. We're not going to discuss it in the guild folders; it'd just mean half a dozen separate discussions and poor Atrathien would end up chewing holes in his walls. :)
RE: cambrinth on weapons
There are technical issues with this. Not saying it'll never happen, but it's not high on the priority list. :)
RE: "specializing" in a spell (CHOOSEing it more than once, spending extra slots on it) to increase its parameters
I don't really care for it, and I think players would prefer spells that change with more skill, rather than having to re-invest a spell slot in a spell they already know to get it to change.
RE: adding WM magic into forging stuff to get better quality weapons
Once we have an active forging guru again, I'll bring up the possibility.
RE: having more than one spell prepared at a time?
This isn't currently planned as a possibility, no.
RE: casting from hiding?
This isn't completely out of the picture, but it's not high on my
priority list, either.
RE: multi-targeting & existing spells
Yes, some existing spells will be modified to accomodate this. :)
RE: TM crits being MONSTERBOLD
Atrathien's going to check with the combat folks and see what it would take to do this.
Brandewynne
