Defense Nerfed

[Synthesis]

Come on, guys, even if the code was technically "bugged," things seemed to be working perfectly fine before you all went and changed it:  uber warriors were pwning noobs, and everyone was getting along just dandy.

You knew the code change would negatively impact defensive capabilities.  You can't simply cop to a "we preserve code integrity!" defense in order to wash your hands of the consequences of your action.  You -knew- the code change would negatively impact defense, and you did it.  Therefore you -must- have approved of the consequences, or you could've "preserved code integrity" by 1) fixing the bug and then 2) recalculating defense modifiers to keep the new code acting the same as the old code.

Add this to the new "daze" code, and you've basically fouled things up across the entire game, for people who want to play solo characters, or characters without super-buff defense skills (read: parry).  Didn't see that carru coming? Too bad! Next character, please.  A little bit of net lag kicks in at an inopportune moment? Too bad! What does he get, folks? A Brand New Char!

From my personal experience, critters that ordinarily would've only hit me for at -worst- moderate wounds are now landing grievous and vicious blows, dazing me on initial hits, and affording me the opportunity to flee only on the off chance that they go for a short period without attacking me.

Grouping up is next to impossible if you want to play certain character types, so this "group up for protection!" warning is just a bunch of bull. Further, opportunities to actually -use- the rescue skill come few and far between (outside of the Byn, anyway), which usually means that anyone you go out with is going to suck so badly at it that you're liable to end up dead before they successfully knock you out of the way.  Ditto that for the guard skill.  Even beyond that, guards are more of a liability in this game than anything else, because if they're guarding you, it means they're buffer than you, which means they're eventually going to try to take your stuff, just because they can (or the PC is being played by a fifteen year old without the capacity to reason beyond the immediate consequences of the "kill" command).

A further random list of grievances:

Magickers are now going to be even more isolated than before, for a longer time, as they completely avoid contact with the world until they've branched their Uber spells.  Hooray, this means that Ultimate Mages will swoop down out of unknown valleys to pwn unsuspecting noobs.  They'll come out of nowhere and cast immediately, to prevent the possibility of being caught in a daze lock, instantly frying their targets without pausing for so much as a nod.  Hooray for instant magicker deaths?

Certain NPCs are now going to be Doom Creatures of the Dark Abyss.  Uber half-giant warriors had difficulty taking down some of these critters...now what?  What is the point of putting a bunch of creatures around that -nobody- can kill?  What's the point of having an area so populated with heinous beasts that nobody in their right mind will ever venture there (without the benefit of an invisibility spell, anyway)?  You might as well delete the areas, because the net effect will be the same.

People with crappy connections might as well stay home.  It was bad enough before, being caught by the random Doom Beetle descending from the the murky realm known as "the square north-east," but at least you had a sprinter's chance, once your connection stopped lagging.  Now, if combat even starts, you're pretty much toast, unless you have mad skills, because that beetle is going to daze you with the first blow, and keep dazing you until you're meat. Yay.

I don't even want to imagine what it's like trying to raise a half-giant, now.  Before this change, half-giants had hands down the -worst- defensive ability I have ever seen, with any other type of PC. I've had a half-giant warrior lose 50% of his hp, while ep'ing a shield, in 2 lightning fast rounds from an NPC that newbie assassins (used to) use for backstab practice.  What are they going to do now?  They're going to die the first time they get into it with anything larger than a rat, I presume.

Speaking of newbie assassins: good luck, guys, you're going to need it! Oh, or you'll just have to settle for being that sneaky, creepy guy in the Byn that nobody trusts.  Yeah, we've all seen it a million times:  the one guy that for some reason -always- loses his sparring matches, and never seems to get any better at defending himself.  He's either an assassin or a magicker, better watch out!

Of course, all of this can be worked around, sure.  I can deal with it, easily.  I've been playing for nearly 8 years, now...I can adapt, because I've learned most of the crucial survival tips and techniques long ago.  I know better than to pause to emote in dangerous places. I know spam-looking is more important than typing out a flowery emote, if you're in a no-law zone.  I know which beasties to avoid, and more importantly, I know the proper sequence of beasties to hunt in order to boost my skills without subjecting my character to unnecessary risk.  I know better than to stop and chat with hooded figures in the desert.  I know that it's usually safer to simply spamwalk from Allanak to Luir's than it is to "hire a guard."

I know a lot of things, but I ask you:  Is this how you want the game to be played?  Do you want players so mortally fearful of their character's impending doom that they cannot pause to think of anything except how precarious their grasp on life is?

I see a lot of wishful talk about PC raiders and the like, but how on earth is this going to bring about that kind of change? The risk-takers may create raiders, and they may succeed, but most everyone else is just going to stay inside the city and play an aide or a pickpocket, and completely avoid the unpredictability of the merciless NPCs roaming the wilderness.  Before long, we're going to have nothing but a few elite warriors and mages scouring the wastes, preying on clueless newbs who don't yet have the good sense to just stay inside until they've branched (not to mention the newbie desert-elves who don't have the luxury of simply remaining inside the city).

Even if all of this "gloom and doom" scenario turns out not to be the case, it doesn't change the fact of the matter:  you nerfed defense, and you covered it with an extremely lame excuse.  Poor form, in my opinion.

[Halaster]

After reading the first few paragraphs, then completely ignoring the rest because I knew the rest would be a long continuation of the first few  paragraphs, I suggest this:

Wait a week.  Then post constructive feedback.  A 15 paragraph rant on what you think might happen before you really know the effects is.. pointless.

[Moofassa]

Albeit slightly sarcastic in tone, the OP made a few interesting if not valid points.

But, taking Halasters comment into my brain aswell, I haven't yet tested the effects.

[Morgenes]

I suggest this:

Wait a week.  Then post constructive feedback.

[Larrath]

Didn't see that carru coming? Too bad! Next character, please.  A little bit of net lag kicks in at an inopportune moment? Too bad! What does he get, folks? A Brand New Char!

Carru and lag have been issues long before this change.  I honestly don't even see how it makes a difference; the problem with carru is the carru-charge, not the daze code.

From my personal experience, critters that ordinarily would've only hit me for at -worst- moderate wounds are now landing grievous and vicious blows, dazing me on initial hits, and affording me the opportunity to flee only on the off chance that they go for a short period without attacking me.

So be more careful and 'rebuild' your defense.  I'm sure it's no issue for you, and new characters wouldn't really be hindered; as I understand, it would just take them a little longer to become strong fighters now.

Grouping up is next to impossible if you want to play certain character types, so this "group up for protection!" warning is just a bunch of bull.

Practically all character types can group up - hunters, raiders, miners and foragers.  Maybe spam-hunters will have a bit of a problem finding people to group up for a 15-hour hunting spree, but I'm not sure it's a bad thing.  Fact is that normal, sane Zalanthans do group up, because they have to hunt down giant animals with lousy bone and stone equipment.
If I was in Zalanthas and had a fully-loaded shotgun with me, I'd still take a friend or two if I went to hunt scrabs, just in case.  Forcing people to group might actually be beneficial to player interaction.  People aren't really supposed to go and solo tembos and gwoshi without giving it a second thought.

Further, opportunities to actually -use- the rescue skill come few and far between (outside of the Byn, anyway), which usually means that anyone you go out with is going to suck so badly at it that you're liable to end up dead before they successfully knock you out of the way.  Ditto that for the guard skill.

You suck at it now?  Okay, now you have a reason to actually use those skills!  They're coded for a reason; strategize.

Even beyond that, guards are more of a liability in this game than anything else, because if they're guarding you, it means they're buffer than you...

No it doesn't.  Maybe they're just the quicker guy with the large shield instead of the guy with the two-handed axe.  Strategy.

...which means they're eventually going to try to take your stuff, just because they can (or the PC is being played by a fifteen year old without the capacity to reason beyond the immediate consequences of the "kill" command).

Oh please.

Magickers are now going to be even more isolated than before, for a longer time, as they completely avoid contact with the world until they've branched their Uber spells.  Hooray, this means that Ultimate Mages will swoop down out of unknown valleys to pwn unsuspecting noobs.  They'll come out of nowhere and cast immediately, to prevent the possibility of being caught in a daze lock, instantly frying their targets without pausing for so much as a nod.  Hooray for instant magicker deaths?

How is this different from what we had before?  Bash has been around for as long as Arm has been online, I presume, and magickers aren't really made much more vulnerable here; when they start taking hits, you know full well how much time an average Warrior vs. Unprotected Magicker fight will last.

Certain NPCs are now going to be Doom Creatures of the Dark Abyss.  Uber half-giant warriors had difficulty taking down some of these critters...now what?

Now you can take these creatures more seriously and hopefully not see people going out and going solo at bahamets.  Or you can try to stun them.  Or be more smart in how you hunt them - ranged weapons, maybe?

What is the point of putting a bunch of creatures around that -nobody- can kill?  What's the point of having an area so populated with heinous beasts that nobody in their right mind will ever venture there (without the benefit of an invisibility spell, anyway)?  You might as well delete the areas, because the net effect will be the same.

The point?  Now people can make RPTs and organize trips if they want to go to places, which might actually make the exotic places exotic; suddenly not every city-bred hunter will pass the High Sun heat chilling in the Mantis Valley.

People with crappy connections might as well stay home.  It was bad enough before, being caught by the random Doom Beetle descending from the the murky realm known as "the square north-east," but at least you had a sprinter's chance, once your connection stopped lagging.  Now, if combat even starts, you're pretty much toast, unless you have mad skills, because that beetle is going to daze you with the first blow, and keep dazing you until you're meat. Yay.

It's not a significant difference.  Originally you had a shot of 0.05 and now it's fallen to 0.005?   Oh yeah, huge difference.

I don't even want to imagine what it's like trying to raise a half-giant, now.  Before this change, half-giants had hands down the -worst- defensive ability I have ever seen, with any other type of PC. I've had a half-giant warrior lose 50% of his hp, while ep'ing a shield, in 2 lightning fast rounds from an NPC that newbie assassins (used to) use for backstab practice.  What are they going to do now?  They're going to die the first time they get into it with anything larger than a rat, I presume.

It sounds to me like that NPC got modified because people were using it as 'backstab practice'.  Or maybe you had bad luck - you know, mob stats and random combat procedures?

Speaking of newbie assassins: good luck, guys, you're going to need it! Oh, or you'll just have to settle for being that sneaky, creepy guy in the Byn that nobody trusts.  Yeah, we've all seen it a million times:  the one guy that for some reason -always- loses his sparring matches, and never seems to get any better at defending himself.  He's either an assassin or a magicker, better watch out!

That's just bullshit.

I know a lot of things, but I ask you:  Is this how you want the game to be played?  Do you want players so mortally fearful of their character's impending doom that they cannot pause to think of anything except how precarious their grasp on life is?

I actually would like to see people treat the desert as something dangerous as opposed to a happy hunting playground.

I see a lot of wishful talk about PC raiders and the like, but how on earth is this going to bring about that kind of change? The risk-takers may create raiders, and they may succeed, but most everyone else is just going to stay inside the city and play an aide or a pickpocket, and completely avoid the unpredictability of the merciless NPCs roaming the wilderness.  Before long, we're going to have nothing but a few elite warriors and mages scouring the wastes, preying on clueless newbs who don't yet have the good sense to just stay inside until they've branched (not to mention the newbie desert-elves who don't have the luxury of simply remaining inside the city).

Nonsense.  Seriously.  All it means is that the desert-roaming characters will have to be more careful.

Even if all of this "gloom and doom" scenario turns out not to be the case, it doesn't change the fact of the matter:  you nerfed defense, and you covered it with an extremely lame excuse.  Poor form, in my opinion.

omg no


P.s.
This post came out hostile, and I apologize for it.  I'm in a hurry to leave and might not be able to post again today, and therefore I'm leaving it as is.  My hostility has nothing to do with Synthesis and/or his opinions, post or Arm at all.  I don't have the time to edit it out at the moment, and therefore I hope no one takes offense from my post.
Apologies in advance.

[Cyrian20]

After reading the first few paragraphs, then completely ignoring the rest because I knew the rest would be a long continuation of the first few  paragraphs, I suggest this:

Wait a week.  Then post constructive feedback.  A 15 paragraph rant on what you think might happen before you really know the effects is.. pointless.

An idea that popped up would be to allow people to draw weapons even when in 'daze lock', otherwise people could be easily killed in the street when you etwo a sword and attack them unarmed (a pretty much promised high dmg hit) and if they can't draw a weapon you pretty much are promised all the following hits.

Another would be to extremely lower the % so it is an occasional reward instead of a promised response. Make a warrior's bash still something that is needed if you want to keep those skinny pickpockets from fleeing.

[Nao]

About the whole work in group thing - this is not always possible with the current playerbase, exspecially when you're off-peak or in a clan that's not very populated - some playability must stay even for those people.

If you make everything harder, new characters are fucked - once you can kill your basic critters, everything might be easy, but getting there is extremely hard. I remember being in a clan with a bunch of new characters that couldn't do anything at all, even if they were together and on their own, because even if you work in groups it was already too dangerous for them. If it's a lot worse now for new characters, this is definitely getting me worried - how are those gonna start out, not everyone has the luxury of being able to spar a lot before they first head out into the desert.

Indies, anyone?
If you play off-peak being indie might be the best chance for you to have some fun, since otherwise you're likely to be stuck in an empty, restrictive clan that won't let you do anything on your own, no matter if there are players around or not.

EDIT: Are new characters getting a bit of a bonus compared to what it was before? If not, I'd suggest this so they at least got a chance

[ale six]

Plenty of people have been saying for a long time that there should be some more fear to the deserts. Well, now there is. I think I like that.

Having not seen any of the 'new' code in action, I won't say more until I have something to say.

[Nao]

Plenty of people have been saying for a long time that there should be some more fear to the deserts. Well, now there is. I think I like that.

Having not seen any of the 'new' code in action, I won't say more until I have something to say.

The problem I see here is that the desert is and was already nasty enough for brand-new characters, exspecially around 'nak and exspecially for non-warriors. If it's true and new characters are the only group really affected by this change in the long run, then you made it even worse for the new characters that have always been struggling and it's still as easy as always for the characters with some play time under their belts.

[Cyrian20]

Plenty of people have been saying for a long time that there should be some more fear to the deserts. Well, now there is. I think I like that.

Having not seen any of the 'new' code in action, I won't say more until I have something to say.

We could instill fear in the deserts by making people randomly lose link also, but that wouldn't be realistic and have zero playability. The issue people are bringing up is the desert is fearful to people it shouldn't be fearful to.

I want to ignore the desert though as it gives people something to grab on to in defense of reeling blows.

They work in the cities also and as I stated earlier work better there, as you can draw etwo quickly and attack an unarmed opponent. That is pretty much a 100% daze lock. That just makes the game unplayable and gives advantage only to those that are leet warriors and can fight unarmed. I will be the first to say I make city characters that want to talk and hang in the bar all day, not always focus on combat.

[LoD]

Add this to the new "daze" code, and you've basically fouled things up across the entire game, for people who want to play solo characters, or characters without super-buff defense skills (read: parry).  Didn't see that carru coming? Too bad! Next character, please.

As others have mentioned, I think we'll just want to see how the changes play out before accusing anyone of fouling up the game.

There may need to be a bit more preparation done before your character moves into the realm of ass-kickery to which you were accustomed, but that shouldn't be too much of a concern.  Barring a few uncommon encounters, most people can steer clear of troublesome quarry without a whole lot of effort.

Daze

On the subject of daze, I am in agreement with Cyrian20's comments.  After having seen how often the "daze" effect happens in real combat, I don't really care much for the addition.  I'm assuming that this was designed as a control over some kind of twinkery rather than provide a platform for increased RP potential, because it doesn't do much for the latter.

I would like to see the probability of someone being dazed to have a scaling relationship with the severity of the blow:

> Very Hard (10%)
> Extremely Hard (20%)
> Wound (30%)
> Grieveous wound (50%)
> Horrendous Damage (75%)
> Frightening Damage (100%)

Other issues related to the combat change I think will be minmal once people simply get used to the change.  Time will tell, but I don't forsee any paradigm shifts coming about as a result.

-LoD

[Halaster]

as you can draw etwo quickly and attack an unarmed opponent. That is pretty much a 100% daze lock.

That's simply untrue - you really don't know what you're talking about, sorry.

[Cyrian20]

as you can draw etwo quickly and attack an unarmed opponent. That is pretty much a 100% daze lock.

That's simply untrue - you really don't know what you're talking about, sorry.

I know it isn't a 100%, but I think people get the point. It allows a down right evil hit that is going to reel a person, one after another and if they can't draw a weapon they will be stuck there taking them none stop. If I am wrong I apologize but this is the way it has looked to me.

[Attana]

Crucial survival tip #01: Run away.
Crucial survival tip #02: For combat sucky folks, engage at a distance.
Crucial survival tip #03: Run run run run run.

It's supposed to be a tough world out there, and it just got made a little tougher.  Take your prior-badass-character-now-sucky-one back into some organization and work to get back up to prior-badassness, if what you truly want is some warrior who can out fight anything in the game.

It's not about how many animals you can kill, or what animals you can kill.  It's about the RP.

As for daze fouling things up for solo-characters, I haven't noticed.  It sucks, but it's realistic.  Taking a really hard hit to a vulnerable spot is going to daze you, it's what most RP-inclined folks RP out in sparring circles when a hit to the head, neck or body of a hard kind occurs.

If this came out harsh, I have a screaming baby in the background, that's bleeding and needs to be taken to the hospital at this very moment, so apologies.

[ale six]

The issue people are bringing up is the desert is fearful to people it shouldn't be fearful to.

I think that's a misconception. I don't care if you're a 500-day uber warrioranger decked out in mithril chainmail. The desert should be fearful to EVERYBODY. EVEN YOU. YES, YOU.

But I'll also ignore that because I don't want to derail.

In the end, I think the new code changes will preserve the one fundamental thing to combat: the stronger, better prepared person wins. The other people die, or get away, if they're lucky. That's fine by me.

[Dakkon Black]

I have to admit. Between the two changes (Daze and Defense) my char has made utterly different decisions in his life ICly.

I think there are points that Synthesis makes that are valid. The truth is, all I can see coming out of this, is more, Whoever types kill first wins behavior.

Like he said, mages -will not- give any possibly lee way. Before you could try out a scene, have some fun. Now it's just possibly suicidal to do that. By the time they type kill you might allready be dead. So why will they wait to see if you wanna rp?

It hasn't been a week yet I suppose, but if noobs are only going to get hit MORE from this change... as well as get Dazed. Jeez.. was the desert really -that- safe before?

I've always thought that the massive beasts were uberly scary. Now I treat most bloody scrab like I used to treat Mek! Perhaps this is better in terms of realism, but I have to say, I'm interested in playing a fantasy game where I could become something increadible. Where I -could- become a part of history, could slay dangerous animals with a word, and could go through limitless bountiful imagination.

Not where I couldn't do anything solo until day 50 unless I twink out and use every second of coded advantage to survive.

[rufus]

Play a merchant if you're scared of the big sausage.  On the other hand, I think this is great.  It's been some time before I've been in combat and my hands were shaking, everything became all too simple and dumb.  I love it when an immortal steps in and brings the intelligence of NPCs up a notch, usually kicking my face in the process.

As a reaction to this change, I think more people are going to become Tuluki tree-huggin' hippies.

[Agent_137]

Shit's harder?

Sweet.

Welcome to Armageddon.

[Halaster]

If this came out harsh, I have a screaming baby in the background, that's bleeding and needs to be taken to the hospital at this very moment, so apologies.

Not to derail, but.. WTF are you doing spending time posting insteading tending to them if that's true?

[jstorrie]

Doom, doom, doom, doom.

Add this to the new "daze" code, and you've basically fouled things up across the entire game, for people who want to play solo characters, or characters without super-buff defense skills (read: parry).  Didn't see that carru coming? Too bad! Next character, please.

Welcome to Armageddon. The wastes are dangerous.

From my personal experience, critters that ordinarily would've only hit me for at -worst- moderate wounds are now landing grievous and vicious blows, dazing me on initial hits, and affording me the opportunity to flee only on the off chance that they go for a short period without attacking me.

The wastes are dangerous.

Grouping up is next to impossible if you want to play certain character types, so this "group up for protection!" warning is just a bunch of bull. Further, opportunities to actually -use- the rescue skill come few and far between (outside of the Byn, anyway), which usually means that anyone you go out with is going to suck so badly at it that you're liable to end up dead before they successfully knock you out of the way.

Life-threatening combat is life-threatening.

Even beyond that, guards are more of a liability in this game than anything else, because if they're guarding you, it means they're buffer than you, which means they're eventually going to try to take your stuff, just because they can (or the PC is being played by a fifteen year old without the capacity to reason beyond the immediate consequences of the "kill" command).

Yes, people will betray you. Yes, armed mercenaries are dangerous. Welcome to Armageddon: pay your guards well.

A further random list of grievances:

Magickers are now going to be even more isolated than before, for a longer time, as they completely avoid contact with the world until they've branched their Uber spells.  Hooray, this means that Ultimate Mages will swoop down out of unknown valleys to pwn unsuspecting noobs.  They'll come out of nowhere and cast immediately, to prevent the possibility of being caught in a daze lock, instantly frying their targets without pausing for so much as a nod.  Hooray for instant magicker deaths?

Young magickers already got the crap kicked out of them by anything with fighting skill. They're probably the least affected by the defense reduction.

Certain NPCs are now going to be Doom Creatures of the Dark Abyss.  Uber half-giant warriors had difficulty taking down some of these critters...now what?  What is the point of putting a bunch of creatures around that -nobody- can kill?  What's the point of having an area so populated with heinous beasts that nobody in their right mind will ever venture there (without the benefit of an invisibility spell, anyway)?  You might as well delete the areas, because the net effect will be the same.

The wastes are dangerous. Fighting a mekillot is like fighting a goddamned tyrannosaurus, man! Didn't you find it a bit odd that any sufficiently well-trained dwarf could pwn a t-rex with a couple bone clubs?

People with crappy connections might as well stay home.  It was bad enough before, being caught by the random Doom Beetle descending from the the murky realm known as "the square north-east," but at least you had a sprinter's chance, once your connection stopped lagging.  Now, if combat even starts, you're pretty much toast, unless you have mad skills, because that beetle is going to daze you with the first blow, and keep dazing you until you're meat. Yay.

The beetle will likely not daze characters who are well-equipped and well-trained on the first blow. Further, NPCs are now affected by command lag, so you can easily run off before it gets to you. Yes, ultra-doombeetles will turn merchants into bug-chow. Why shouldn't they?

I don't even want to imagine what it's like trying to raise a half-giant, now.  Before this change, half-giants had hands down the -worst- defensive ability I have ever seen, with any other type of PC. I've had a half-giant warrior lose 50% of his hp, while ep'ing a shield, in 2 lightning fast rounds from an NPC that newbie assassins (used to) use for backstab practice.  What are they going to do now?  They're going to die the first time they get into it with anything larger than a rat, I presume.

You presume totally and completely incorrectly.

Speaking of newbie assassins: good luck, guys, you're going to need it! Oh, or you'll just have to settle for being that sneaky, creepy guy in the Byn that nobody trusts.  Yeah, we've all seen it a million times:  the one guy that for some reason -always- loses his sparring matches, and never seems to get any better at defending himself.  He's either an assassin or a magicker, better watch out!

Assume good faith. I've never seen a Byn assassin mistreated by a guild-sniffing sergeant. If anything, people are happy to have someone around to round out the unit's talents.

I know a lot of things, but I ask you:  Is this how you want the game to be played?  Do you want players so mortally fearful of their character's impending doom that they cannot pause to think of anything except how precarious their grasp on life is?

YES!

[Cenghiz]

I'm bored of seeing people jumping to conclusions before even having the chance to try the new code. It happened several times.

1. Stealthy skills have been nerfed. People complained that there's going to be no more stealthies. I tried one myself and it was nearly as easy as before. Didn't get why people are upset.
2. Archery skill started taking armor into consideration. A whole group of people jumped to the conclusion that archery is now useless. Again, tried with a character and even slings were still useful. Didn't get why people are upset.
3. A daze code has been added. Damn.. I didn't even have the chance to try it. It must be rare. People jumped to the conclusion that now it's certain death to melee with anything. Will try to try the code and see why people are upset.
4. A defence bug has been corrected, making people weaker in defence as far as I get it. Didn't have a chance to try. Still wondering why people are upset _that_ early.

Please... it's so early yet.. Give your chars a chance to try it first.

[Cyrian20]

Before everyone rises up in confederacy against Synth, lets see the point he is trying to get across. The desert is hard and he doesn't want it easier, I have played with him before and he treats it like a harsh desert. He is talking about playability, yes a mek can own me; but since I can't see it northwest of me that means it may get to walk in and get one hit. I may be wrong, but if a mek is the size of a t-rex I am sure as hell going to see it charging over the flats, let me flee when it enters instead of enter a daze lock.

He is talking about low defense -with- daze lock, that can wipe out people before they knew what was happening and there are a -slew- of pc'
s that survive on their own. There is a place with mean ol' rantarri I had a pc survive in by -only- running at the first sign of combat, with lowered defense and daze though a very popular creature out there could daze me on the first hit and keep me stuck in it. Yes it's scary but it must also be playable.

I posted about this in the other discussion though and will repeat it. I had a ranger thug d elf the very first day we could play them. At an hour old I could sap and ko scrab on the first try and was basically a mini-sapping god of doomz. It was refined and I think instead of DO DON'T DO DON'T.

We should instead offer experiences and our opinions to the imms, let us not forget this is our game. Our meaning all of us working together to improve it, rather your a hard working coder, in charge of marketing, or just a player offering constant feedback.

So please lets see less "the desert is harsh" DO and less "the imms want more brains" DON'T posts and lets offer what experiences we have and more then likely we will see it tweaked and made to fit smoothly into the world over the next week or two.

[Cenghiz]

Currently NPCs have command lag like we do. So no need to worry about meks attacking.. They delay. I tested it myself a few times - though they all were unhappy accidents.
In past sometimes creatures charged into the room and instaattacked. They can't do it any more to my knowledge. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Delirium]

For once, I completely agree with Jstorrie.

I even quoted him in my sig.

[Cyrian20]

Currently NPCs have command lag like we do. So no need to worry about meks attacking.. They delay. I tested it myself a few times - though they all were unhappy accidents.
In past sometimes creatures charged into the room and instaattacked. They can't do it any more to my knowledge. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think we are supposed to bug npcs that don't, there is still that issue though especially for us dial-up mofos that get to see the npc a second after they enter, and then have to wait another half second or so to type and pray it sends fast enough to ginka.