I suppose I'd better catch this bandwagon before it putters out, so here's my thoughts as well.
Disclaimer: This was written before I had coffee, while I was having coffee, and right after I had coffee. It making no sense is almost a requirement.
(08-14-2011, 09:08 PM)Kretol Wrote: [ -> ]Is it the announcement of the impending prestige system removal?
I was, frankly, quite irritated when this announcement first came up. "Oh come on, so soon? After all this time?" was running through my head. I refrained from commenting on that thread, just sitting back and watching it all play out, letting my annoyance run its course, then cataloging my own feelings on the subject when I was a bit more level-headed.
I like what the prestige system gave; variance. Uniqueness. A way to set your character apart ability-wise (and other-wise) from everyone else. "Hey, that guy's a demon hunter. My night elf is not a fan. Let's have some fun with this." "Hey, that's a felsworn. My tauren smells sickening amounts of fel.
I smell RP." I haven't had many opportunities to RP with many prestige characters, but when I have, it's always made me go "That was fun. Wish it happened more often." If Marianna hadn't been trolling around doing her thing, I wouldn't have had an opportunity to try out slave RP on my tauren, short-lived as it was.
On a (I guess) similar note, character power scale and abilities have always been things that've bugged me. Why is this eighteen year old human mage, who's been practicing for less than a year, just as strong as my three hundred year old blood elf mage? Why can't that three hundred year old mage make his fireball spell a fire
arrow or something instead? Why does it have to be exactly as seen in game? I've always used my death knight's death grip to throw people and things around, not just pull them to her. I've never seen the issue with ripping someone's weapon out of their hands and hurling it away, as opposed to pulling it to my knight, then throwing it away anyway. Some people are perfectly okay with this, even though the ability text says
towards the knight. I've also had people
freak out when I tried to do this.
Part of this probably comes from the term 'creative licensing', which is something I took to heart a long time ago. Writing things outside the norm are what get you readers and business, after all.
Admittedly no, this is not a failing on the part of the system, but I haven't found a good way to deal with this. You can blab as long as you want about how your character has had over two hundred years of experience and really should be able to cast a small variant of that spell and blah blah blah, but in the end it doesn't matter. Unless you want to launch another big argument, which I dislike doing.
I suppose this comes off as me whining about not being able to powergame, but that's really not my intention. I guess I'm just bad at explaining myself. I honestly don't care about roll bonuses; I find trust fighting to be infinitely preferable. Lends realism to when someone swipes at your neck and you get decapitated instead of taking one damage.
The ability to make your own spells for some titles was also a big draw for me with the new system. I love writing descriptive emotes that keep encounters entertaining. I like having some freedom to do things a bit differently than every other person of my class. I'll direct you back up to the creative licensing comment.
/special snowflake ramble
And yet, I've rambled off topic, again. So, to finish on topic; I like the prestiges. I like the prestige threads, and the stories that come out of it. I will probably be reapplying for a prestige even though the system is going down because, if events continue like I think they will, this is the next logical step for my character. I also want to write a thread like that. I want to be able to use death grip how I use it anyway and not be called out on it. I want to emote my death knight like I write characters in stories. I want I want I want
You get the picture.
If this new system allows for the kind of ability and character variance I've rambled about, then hey, all the power to it. That's really all I'm looking for.
But you know, honestly? I have plenty of fun here even without such systems. If these go, it's a minor irritation, not the end of the world. I'll get over it, move on, and forget eventually. But since it's there, why not use it while I can?
TL; DR: I was mad about restricted RP but now I figured out that it's not really all that bad and I'm not mad. And stuff.
Quote:Perhaps the denial of conquest RP?
Eh. Honestly, as much as I'd like to be able to have character actions mean something, I'm very leery of conquest, and PvP events in general, honestly. I feel the potential for drama and OOC animosity is far higher with this sort of thing than anything else, and my own personal experiences with such events have always ended poorly, which is certainly coloring my stance on this. If someone can find a way to make it work, all the power to you, but what I'm picturing (zone/town takeovers, NPC slaughter extravaganzas, then counterattacks which decimate
more zones, etc) I don't think would be a good thing. My opinion.
A couple of people made some points earlier about guilds (I think it was Rosencrat and Jonoth), and about how we need, not more guilds, but more
active guilds. This is what I see as the best solution to the need to beat people up and take territory, if you'll pardon the massive dumbing-down. Get some friends together, talk with some people in another guild. Arrange something. Spark hostilities, beat each other up. Invade guild bases. Recruit allies. Repeat. That sort of thing.
I intend to start something of a similar vein as soon as I get the details worked out with all involved, including myself. With all the responses here...I expect some participation.
Quote:Or maybe the lack of the world being changed by every character's actions?
I don't think
every character's actions should change the world, but I would like to see some that actually do. Granted, there's characters that do, like Marianna and...well, that's honestly the only one that comes to mind. This horse has been beaten into an unrecognizable lump already in this thread, so I'll pass it over. Just seeing the changes more would be nice.
That's is nothing against you, Rosencrat. I just want to clarify.
Quote:Or could it be us no longer considering the RPG books canon? (We're simply following Blizzard on this)
Again, no strong opinion on this. I haven't read them, so I'm sure that's contributing, but I think that Pirates of the Caribbean quote comes into play here, about being more guidelines than actual rules. They've been invalidated as rules. I'll get around to torrenting them all eventually, and I'm sure they'll be an entertaining read. Maybe I'll even incorporate some fun little lore facts I find into a character. Does it make the character non-canon? Maybe.
Does it matter?
Not to me.
(08-14-2011, 09:35 PM)Kretol Wrote: [ -> ]For folks that have experienced random interactions with NPCs (simple things like the NPCs talking to characters and reacting to them), how have opinions been? I know there's been some negative instances that could be seen as a GM trolling them (I would hope it wasn't intentional), but how have experiences been overall with that sort of thing?
One thing to say here.
<3 Xigo.
He keeps popping up whenever things are
just starting to get stale with a "SUDDENLY SOMETHING INTERESTING HAPPENS". I've been in several of his mini-events and loved every one of them.
Kudos to you, man. Keep up the awesome work.
In summary...bleh. I had a structured idea that disintegrated about half way through the first section, but whatever. Everyone else rambled/ranted. My turn.