On Warlocks.

[Beltharean]

A little something I've discussed before, but never gotten a definite answer on, is the duration of Soulstones. Are they really only an hour long IC, or is that just a mechanic that we have?

[Bovel]

I want to say no, cause it's not a spell alone but a vessel alone and the effect should remain until the stone breaks.

[Delta]

Where do we stand on Warlocks being able to sense other Warlocks just by being near them?
I was approached by such a character, who I was fairly sure wasn't even a grunt, let alone a prestige, and that sort of power seems like something prestiges would be better suited for.

[Piroska]

Highly unlikely, with a strong potential for abuse.

In general, I feel that many people should be unable to discern what a player is just by encountering them -- if they are even physically a class. While some races are better capable to sense arcane energy (night elves and tauren in particular), I don't think that people are intuitively that sensitive. It's one of those iffy things.

Furthermore, this has the potential to cause problems, which is why I'd strongly encourage people to avoid utilizing these types of abilities -- unless the people engaged in the roleplay are using it as a device for roleplay and have agreed to it. Then it's far more forgiving.

[Xigo]

Highly unlikely, with a strong potential for abuse.

In general, I feel that many people should be unable to discern what a player is just by encountering them -- if they are even physically a class. While some races are better capable to sense arcane energy (night elves and tauren in particular), I don't think that people are intuitively that sensitive. It's one of those iffy things.

Furthermore, this has the potential to cause problems, which is why I'd strongly encourage people to avoid utilizing these types of abilities -- unless the people engaged in the roleplay are using it as a device for roleplay and have agreed to it. Then it's far more forgiving.

I think that those two races would just get a sense of 'something is wrong here'. They'd know that some sort of force that offends their senses is nearby. But they wouldn't be able to go 'AND IT'S COMING FROM THAT MAN!', or even pinpoint a direction. They'd just be able to say 'Something's strange here' or something.

In the specific case mentioned by Delta, it was a warlock whom spoke to his void demon (Which he summoned right in the Ratchet inn apparently) and asked it 'who else here is tainted' or something like that. And it started pointing out warlocks. Not entirely sure if that's doable (doubt it).

[Knock]

What should I do with my Demon Hunter? The way I'd been using his spectral sight is that everything appears in greyscale, and looks like a fog, with the exception of people tainted by the Fel and Demons.

I don't want to be OP in this, I just think it's one of the core abilities a DH has. Though if it's annoying anyone, I have no qualms in retconning the ability.

[Karunzo]

An Idea I've always found fascinating for warlocks was the slow corruption from their demons.
The demons slowly whispering promises of power in their ears in an effort to bring them to the Burning Legion.
I would think most Warlocks save for the very strong willed would eventually give in to these temptations.
Perhaps this corruption could indeed be picked upon by other Warlock's demons.

[Piroska]

I think that those two races would just get a sense of 'something is wrong here'. They'd know that some sort of force that offends their senses is nearby. But they wouldn't be able to go 'AND IT'S COMING FROM THAT MAN!', or even pinpoint a direction. They'd just be able to say 'Something's strange here' or something.

According to the roleplaying game, high elves get a negative modifier to specific rolls when interacting with tauren or night elves due to the arcane energies to which quel'dorei are addicted -- which can be sensed by those two races. The individual gets it automatically, indicating that it's pretty clear who the source is. Comparatively, it's a fairly high penalty, too.

That said, it's not something that people take into account often. And it is a fairly rare ability outside of those races, capable of discerning arcane energies and nothing too specific as to what that energy is used for, if it is. It's one of those things that we probably wouldn't encourage people to utilize frequently due to the potential for abuse.

What should I do with my Demon Hunter? The way I'd been using his spectral sight is that everything appears in greyscale, and looks like a fog, with the exception of people tainted by the Fel and Demons.

I don't want to be OP in this, I just think it's one of the core abilities a DH has. Though if it's annoying anyone, I have no qualms in retconning the ability.

In other words, it's hard to be accused of metagaming when your character actually possesses that kind of power. Though, to be fair, I've yet to read anything specifically stating that they're able to intuitively sense people utilizing fel energy. Demons and undead, yes, but not the people who utilize that energy. It's a fairly minor distinction, but one that would help avoid the conundrum that you're currently having.

[Knock]

@Piroska: The distinction I draw is that Shadow magic and Fel magic are different forms of corrupted arcane magic, although warlocks use both.

A warlock who uses shadow magic, but does not summon demons to their aid would be indiscernible from everyone else to him.

However, fel energy corrupts (see Fel corruption) through usage. Though it would require prolonged and consistent usage to manifest physically, I would argue that this corruption in smaller doses (such as a warlock who dabbles in demonology) would be made visible to him, like a feint aura of color surrounding the individual. If a person had consumed demon blood, or had manipulated fel magic heavily, this aura would be more vivid in color to him.

[Xigo]

What should I do with my Demon Hunter? The way I'd been using his spectral sight is that everything appears in greyscale, and looks like a fog, with the exception of people tainted by the Fel and Demons.

I don't want to be OP in this, I just think it's one of the core abilities a DH has. Though if it's annoying anyone, I have no qualms in retconning the ability.

I imagine that the DH cannot instantly spot a normal person whom uses fel magic. However, if they do use any sort of warlock powers being used in their vicinity, they might sense it. And if they see someone using warlock powers (Even subtley), they might see some sort of flare of tainted energy from the person, and put two and two together.

Of course...listen to the GMs instead of me.

[Grakor456]

I don't think demonology is automatically fel magic. That would be a little strange for one, but for two the way Warcraft seems to treat fel magic, it's just the demon-ified version of regular spells. For example, summoning green flame that is stronger than your average fireball. The way fel magic has been described, it is something any arcane caster can get into through the consumption of demon blood.

Ignoring that, though, I think it is a dangerous assumption to think that anyone can just pin-point out warlocks (as well as necromancers and shadow priests) through the use of in-game abilities. That really makes the class significantly harder to play in an RP sense when everyone can just walk up and know what you are. Arcane magic is, by its definition, corrupt in general, discerning the difference between that, fel magic, and shadow magic just by looking at the mortal user is a little far-fetched.

[Knock]

@Grakor: He couldn't discern one type of magic from another. All forms of magic, except for fel, would appear the same. My thinking is that due to the ritual blinding he's had, it is only fel energy that appears vividly to him. And as stated before, he can't tell warlocks apart from everyone else, unless they dabble in demonology.

On the note of demonology being separate from fel magic, I believe that they are one and the same. As in the Fel article on WowWiki, "The ultimate manifestation of the demonic arcane on Azeroth is fel (aka fel energy or fel magic)."

[Miah]

In my own opinion, I beleive demon hunter would be the -only- person who might have a chance at spotting a warlock purely by sight and sense, as as part of their prestige they train just ot be able to do that, giving up mortal sight for that freaky seeing demonic/fel magic sight. Would be a bit of a bad sacrifice if a warlock could just stop casting and the demon hunter would be completely stumped of where they are. But thats just opinion and in no way fact Anyway, there is only one demon hunter so far in game to my knowledge thats a player and they are meant to strike fear into fel users, so the smart warlock would run for their lives the moment they spot or hear of a demon hunter. And heck, demon hunters are not gonna just be wandering around a warlock's casual hotspots most likely

[Aphetoros]

I don't think demonology is automatically fel magic.

What makes demonology fel?

[Grakor456]

On the note of demonology being separate from fel magic, I believe that they are one and the same. As in the Fel article on WowWiki, "The ultimate manifestation of the demonic arcane on Azeroth is fel (aka fel energy or fel magic)."

I think it's more of a question of what makes a spell inherently fel? I don't completely trust the WoW-Wiki on certain things if it doesn't give citations, but I think the biggest thing to consider is just *how* different is summoning a demon much different from summoning a player or teleporting, and how is binding it much different than mind control? There are a few, but I don't particularly see this as an inherently evil act...at least, not compared to some things Warlocks could be doing.