Subject: Re: Premature concerns about spell system
From: Atte Koivula (yorkaturr@majik3d.org)
Date: Thu Feb 17 2000 - 09:35:49 EET
> I spent weeks doing combo after combo finding new spells... a month later, > about 10 sites could be easily found with complete spell lists and all my > work meant nothing... The system is not so simplistic as you might have seen in Asheron's Call or any other system of the similar "Dungeon Master"-orientation. To point out some things, first of all magic is not that common-place in Majik3D, meaning that the information concerning the existing magical symbols is completely unknown to most players and very hard to gain. It is also intended that the players, in this context, prefer to keep magical information to themselves and it shouldn't be hard as the world of Majik is QUITE large and continuous player interaction is supposed to be something in the vein of "not so common" in this context (this is supported by the absence of long-distance telepathic "MUD-tells" and public discussion channels). Not to mention the communication between players of different races might be completely impossible in some cases due to linguistic differences etc. Secondly, from the beginning of the game, it is intended that the distribution of magical knowledge is fascistically controlled by a certain group of special hand-picked individuals, who will BE FOUND by the most eager and anxious players who want to learn magic. Needless to say, this means that there will be no "ancient tomes" from which every bit of magical knowledge is picked up in a matter of hours or days. Third, there has been a lot of discussion about magical symbols being "individually different" among different players at least to some extent, which of course means that players can't "leech" magical gestures and words from each other, they need to learn the idea behind them first, and it will take time. Fourth, even though the players would gain extensive symbolic information, simply trying out chaotic combinations of magical symbols will usually lead to consequences other than making a fancy puff of green smoke, and as mortality is a Big Issue in Majik, this approach is not recommended. Certain preparations are always needed. -- _/_ /Atte "Yorkaturr" Koivula <yorkaturr@majik3d.org> True darkness is not the absence of light.
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