Down With Sandstorms.

[Synthesis]

Sure, they might be realistic, but it sucks mightily when you need to do something, you only have an hour to get it done, so you hurry out to do it and *bam*, there's a sandstorm.

It's not like everybody has loads of free time to log in every so often to see if the damn storm has died down.

Add to this nuisance factor the wackiness of the current weather system.

Add to this the fact that some people can't just hole up in a city until the thing blows over, and the fact that they can't build even semi-permanent shelters without an act of God.

Add to this the fact that increasing harshness in some areas leads people to simply play in other areas.  Do you really want everyone to start playing burglar aides and merchant crafters?  I've already seen a -dramatic- drop in the number of outdoors combat characters--and the few that remain seem to have a much higher proportion of newbies.  Everyone with experience seems to be playing magickers or that archetype that grows more ridiculous as time passes: the "aide."

The game is hard enough without them, and they serve little useful purpose.  So, fuck 'em, I say.

[Tamarin]

I voted Yay but I meant to vote Nay.  I dunno how that happened.

No.  Keep sandstorms, absolutely.  It would a stupid, stupid idea to get rid of them.  I just...no.

[Hymwen]

I think they're fine the way they are, but they shouldn't be made worse. The game is hard enough as it is, and there's enough ways to die without getting killed by the weather itself.

[Cegar]

I say make them less frequent, shorter, but more dangerous when they do occur.

I.E. people with no protective gear should take a small amount of damage in open desert (they're dead, since they wont be able to see to get to shelter, as it should be)

People with desert gear (cloaks, sandcloth, facewraps etc.) would take a very large stamina loss while moving, but not take damage.

Every once in a while, a big bastard of a storm would roll through the OPEN DESERT and be pretty beastly to everyone not in some sort of cover, but warning signs should be very, very evident.

[jhunter]

They're fine like they are I suppose, they don't need to be done away with or made worse.

[Larrath]

Let's bring Recall back, too.
Then we'll see more outdoors *coughtwinkcough* hunters!

Outdoors hunters in Zalanthas shouldn't even be that common, most people in the cities stay in the cities because leaving the cities is dangerous, expensive (in water and equipment) and oftentimes stupid.

Removing sandstorms, in my opinion, would be a very bad move.  If you need to log out and you can't, wish up.

[Cegar]

Outdoor hunters, as opposed to indoor hunters?

Where in the documentation does it say that hunters are a rare breed? Nowhere. The merchant houses HIRE hunters. People DEPEND on hunters. Who the hell else is going to go and skin tregils, eh? To say that hunters shouldn't be common is somewhat silly. Of course most people wouldn't want to be a hunter, but that doesn't mean that hunters would be uncommon. Killing animals and gathering their hides and meat is a necessary task since that is what all people of Zalanthas depend on for food (for the most part), clothing, weapons, etc. Hunting is a vital part of Zalanthan economy, and as a result, there are a lot of hunters.

[Hymwen]

Removing sandstorms, in my opinion, would be a very bad move. If you need to log out and you can't, wish up.

Agreed, it's a fundamental part of Zalanthas. And it can cause death because of the effects of a sandstorm, but it shouldn't kill people on its own. Unless you go out in the harshest of sandstorms without clothes on, in which case you deserve to die.

[Lizzie]

I've read so much about the sandstorms that I'm really looking forward to the challenge! For now though I'll stick with what I'm doing until I feel I'm better prepared. Give me a few months okay? Then I'll do an out-of-city character and get back to you on my experience

L. Stanson

[Halaster]

Debate, poll, discuss.. all you want.

But we're definitely not getting rid of them.

[LauraMars]

Why do you want a desert planet without sandstorms?

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Yeah, sandstorms can be annoying sometimes, but getting rid of them entirely is just ludicrous. Jumping at shadows.

[Aldiel]

Regardless of if whether they're annoying and inconvenient or not, I don't think the solution is to just abolish them altogether.  I think the best solution would be to come up with a way to make sandstorms slow you down without stopping you completely.

[Cegar]

Anyone else realize that Synthesis was being facetious?

[ale six]

Cegar, I hope he was. Because the "people have limited time to play, so we should strip every inconvenience out of the game that gets between them and their advancing" argument just grates me.

I like sandstorms.

[Cegar]

I repeat... does anyone else realize that Synthesis was being facetious? This is a clear spoof of the other sandstorm thread. Please, please, please recognize that, or I will lose faith in the playerbase, make a warrior, and PK everyone last one of you.

[Maybe42or54]

I use a skill that I found, when dealing with sandstorms. If there isn't a pc around, I log out.

[Gaare]

Ignoring reality and RP opportunities side of desert storms.

Having more city-based PCs means more interaction. Although I do agree out-door loner PCs add a lot of color to atmosphere, giving PCs way to unite under some clans or groups adds much more.

Just a small example. Even a templar can not easily leave safe city easily... or can be struck outside with a huge amount of weapon-power. I know that sucks when you can not log-out when needed, but well.. that's the part of ARM, and can have same problem even in most fun RPT or HRPT.

PS. Outdoor combat PCs mean rangers now. Warriors are ... well.. just warriors.

[Anonymous]

I don't think that sandstorms should be abolished, or that their impact should be lessened.  In fact, I think more people should stop ignoring their impact and treat it like it's really happening.  Maybe you should suffer damage in bad storms unless you are wearing the proper gear - or maybe only if you insist on trying to move through one or something to get the point across.

However, I think that there should be MUCH more obvious warning that a sandstorm is coming to give people plenty of time to get out of dodge before it hits.  I know that onset of real sandstorms is flashbang, but there are some OOC constraints to deal with.  I think the difference between indoor weather and outdoor weather for detecting whether a sandstorm is raging outside needs to be fixed, and I think that Sandstorms should occur MUCH less frequently than they do in several places.

It's a bit too much in some areas, and I feel like it does impede the ability to get things done in any kind of realistic OOC timeframe.

[RogueWarrior]

Well, I've got to say, taking away sandstorms would be a horrible idea. However, I do think that there should be some skill involved in navigating them. Your more 'outdoorsy' characters would have better skill... well... like all skills. This would be on a small scale though. Even the absolute pros would still have a decent chance of getting lost, especially outside the city. It would be mainly used for navigating city streets and stuff like that, since, in theory, walls and buildings would at least help -a little- to knock down some of the sand and stuff. Also, I think that walking around with your hood up should help an eensy bit to help navigate through the storm (while in the city), since if you had your hood up, you'd be better able to focus on where you were going, instead of keeping the crap out of your eyes the whole time.


Hopes that this isn't already the case, as I would feel pretty dumb.

[Aldiel]

I repeat... does anyone else realize that Synthesis was being facetious? This is a clear spoof of the other sandstorm thread. Please, please, please recognize that, or I will lose faith in the playerbase, make a warrior, and PK everyone last one of you.

Hahaha, hehe, hoohoo... heh.

[Anonymous]

Well, I've got to say, taking away sandstorms would be a horrible idea. However, I do think that there should be some skill involved in navigating them. Your more 'outdoorsy' characters would have better skill... well... like all skills....

This misses the entire point.

You shouldn't be navigating a sandstorm.  In 200 mph winds filled with sharp as glass sand, you should be hunkering down someplace to survive said storm until it ends.  Navigating this is just plain ridiculous.

Their length should be shortened for the sake of playability rather than making them easier to OOCly ignore.

[RogueWarrior]

I'll agree with that, I just think that someone who spends 99.99999% of their life in those storms, would eventually learn how to better navigate them, not out of convenience, but out of necessity.

[Anonymous]

I'll agree with that, I just think that someone who spends 99.99999% of their life in those storms, would eventually learn how to better navigate them, not out of convenience, but out of necessity.

I disagree.  I think that, in order for anyone and anything to live outside in such conditions, the frequency of the storms would have to be lessened, and life would have to develop some means to survive the storms when they hit.  To "weather them" as the American idiom goes.

Surviving as an outdoorsman would mean that you know how to make a double hide-reinforced sandcloth cloak, a loreshi stem, and the side of a sand dune or cliff face into a shelter that will let you breathe and avoid severe lacerations should you be caught out in it until it passes.

[RogueWarrior]

Hmm... pretty good points you got there. Alright then... can we have a stamina drain? Or maybe damage to exposed clothing, maybe armor after a while? Something? We've just been making WAY too many code changes here lately to stop now!