Hello, everyone. :)

This is the first chance I've had to respond to a lot of the posts, so I'm going to try and consolidate everything into one post. Considering the large # of posts since the last time I read the boards, I ended up skimming the majority of posts, and skipping a lot of the commentary on an initial post. So I probably missed some questions, especially if they were raised in an existing thread. Apologies in advance. :)

Some questions were raised which do not pertain to Warrior Mages, but instead to other guilds. Please repost those in the "Matter of Magic" folder, and I'll answer them there. :)

"Thing" for December:

I still intend to release Mantle of Flame as December's "thing". Yes, I know it's after December. <G> It'll be released late. Which means I plan on releasing something else as January's "thing".

Mantle of Flame:

Whew, lots of debate on this one. <grins>

The Paladin team did approach me with their concerns about MoF, and I've given them my initial response. So far we haven't been able to sit down as a group and chat about it, but I'm hoping we can do that in the next day or so, so I can get this spell released.

I firmly believe that the Paladins should have the best spells/abilities to aid in theft protection. The best, not the ONLY. I do not believe that MoF infringes on, or diminishes, GoL. GoL provides better protection than what I am planning for MoF. After all, MoF is primarily a light source. The brawling damage and theft protection are added bonuses, not the inherent feature of the spell. :)

The Paladin team's concerns were mainly based on the fact that they didn't have the complete information on what I was planning for the theft protection portion of MoF. I have sent them that info, and hopefully it will clear up their concerns. :) At this point in time, I have no intention of removing that portion of the spell. :)

The Paladin team was not alone in having concerns about this spell. A few other GM's did, as well. After speaking with them, and hearing their concerns, I've decided to not allow this spell to be RELEASED early. You'll have to let its duration end naturally.

Guild meeting:

I do plan on holding a guild meeting in February. I may hold more than one, to accomodate people who are available at different times. Once I have firmer dates, I'll post them.

WM spell list update:

Nionon should have the list of spell suggestions to me by the end of this week. After that, I'll have to read through them all (I understand it's quite large), and decide which ones are feasible. After that, I'll have to present them to the staff. So, it could take a month or two. :)

Guild development:

Someone mentioned that they felt like the WM guild was being held up to allow other guilds to "catch up". The only thing holding up advancement for Warrior Mages is the limitations on my own time. I promise you that no one in Simu management has ever asked me to delay something so another Guild could "catch up". If they ever do ask me to do that, I'll fight it up to David Whatley if I have to.



A couple of people have mentioned that they don't think I have the "I want our Guild to be the best" attitude. Guys, I'm not a cheerleader. I don't have the pep rally mentality. Which is one of the reasons I would never be a liaison, and why my posts aren't too inspiring. I prefer to work on new things, rather than talk about them. And I don't like getting you guys psyched up about something, when I can't give you a solid date on it. If I could promise you with 100% certainty when X, Y and Z would come out, I'd love to tell you about how great they were gonna be, and what wonderful things were coming. But I can't do that.

When I first got hired, I talked a lot about what I wanted to do, what would be coming "soon" (at that point I still had delusions about how soon "soon" really was), and what those things would be like. It got a lot of people excited and happy about what was coming. When those things got delayed time and time again, for one thing or another, people got disappointed and disillusioned. Would it have been better for me to never mention those things, or only mention them in passing, with no details or promises on "when"? I honestly don't know. Sometimes I think it would be.

Do I want the Warrior Mage Guild to be the best in the game? Hell yes. But that's only going to happen if I develop things for it, not if I psych everyone up about things in the future.

In the past, I've told you guys that I'm not going to fight for things which won't be approved. Some people see this as lack of motivation towards the Guild. I'm not going to waste my time in futile and useless arguments when I could spend that time developing other things which ARE already approved. If I tell you it wouldn't be approved, it's not because I think I might get some resistance. It's because the idea has been brought up in the past, or an idea like it, and we were told "No. Never."

There are a lot of people, GM's as well as players, who think that the Warrior Mage guild has too much power, and that giving them more is not a good idea for the game. I don't agree with those people, and have to convince them that I am right, and they are wrong. Many times it comes down to bargaining. As far as I'm concerned, the smart move is to pick my battles, and pick the ones which I have a chance of winning. It is not smart to fight for every idea that comes along, just because the idea is there, or because someone wants it.

You may disagree with me about whether or not this is a good attitude for a Guild guru. You have every right to disagree with me on that. But please do not question my desire to improve this Guild. If I wasn't devoted to Warrior Mages, I would have dropped the Guild long ago.

I always try to be direct with you, and post honestly. There are times when I can't give you the answer you want to hear, or any answer at all. To balance this out, many of you post things I don't particularly want to hear. ;D



Some of you have raised concerns about the amount of time I can devote, and needing help. <grins> I do have an assistant who was recently hired. Some of you may have seen Nadrien in the game by now. He's coming along very well, and should be able to start developing things for the Guild on his own very soon. A good candidate has been interviewed for the magic assistant position, so I am getting some much-needed help. <chuckle>

I've recently finished training the other guild development teams in spell creation. Right now they're working on their first spells. Until they get more comfortable with the system, I'll be spending time helping them with problems and questions. But after that, all I'll have to do is review the spells before they go live, to make sure they're okay. That will free up some time, also.

Okay, I think this is long enough for one post.

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. I'm going to go watch "The Matrix" on DVD. ;)

-Atrathien