Oh light speed how I loathe thee

Yay lightspeed. My least favorite topic in RP. Lightspeed is the greatest boast of power in rp. Nothing holds a candle to lightspeed. A spec of dust moving at light speed according to the force = mass x acceleration formula could knock Hercules on his ass. Light also runs circles around sound, the second contender for top speed.

Point is we need to but a leash on this concept. Lightspeed is the ultimate power that can be obtained as far as I see things. I'm not saying we need to kick it to the curb but if we don't we need to set some restrictions.

To have lightspeed:
-You must be using a spell, no passive effect can generate lightspeed
-The primary aspect of the magic or magic item must be light
-While traveling at lightspeed you are incapable of attacking, catching, grabbing, blocking, anything. Only moving.
-You cannot change direction while moving at lightspeed, you can stop then change directions and start again but not mid travel.


Regarding Lightspeed Projectiles: No.

If it doesn't follow those guidelines I say

Spoiler:

Regarding the inevitable "Okay if not lightspeed what is the fastest we are permitted?" As a member of the development team I am currently working on App Rubrics, which will be set universal grading criteria for app checking. The question will be addressed once I get that finished.

As disappointing as it is to see that it took this long for someone to finally post this. I. Support. This. Completely.

People underestimate light speed so much that it's ridiculous. Light moves much faster than people think, even faster than your nerves. It's impossible for a person to dodge something that's moving at light speed because it travels faster. By the time your eyes have actually seen it, which they shouldn't be able to, the attack has already hit you. And by the time you feel the first attack, literally a trillion other ones have already hit you.

Hahahahaaha Lightspeed
HAahahahaHAHahHAhaahaahaaha
HHahaahahaahaaha
*incoherent gurgling sounds*

To have lightspeed:
-You must be using a spell, no passive effect can generate lightspeed
-The primary aspect of the magic or magic item must be light
-While traveling at lightspeed you are incapable of attacking, catching, grabbing, blocking, anything. Only moving.
-You cannot change direction while moving at lightspeed, you can stop then change directions and start again but not mid travel.

So phew I am in the clear. I only have 50 feet lightspeed jumps as opposed to BLAM your dead.

Also Kira there is one contender for light is terms of speed: shadows. Lightspeed claims to be fastest, but shadow was there first. Then the element that beats sound is lightning, but I digress for this is as semantics.

I would put lightspeeds needing to be an A-rank minimum spell with above limitations, but Id go also a step further. People forget 2 factors of lightspeed: friction and atmospheric pressure. These 2 would destroy the body if it were to go at lightspeed. So what do I propose? Use an ability point to enable this, why? Because your body would have to develop resistance and mutate for it to work. Otherwise these 2 factors will cause your head to explode as you ignite in a giant ball of fire.

Lastly I believe if you are hit by a solid object then the damage received should be tripled or even quadrupel. Sir Isaac Newton is a deadly Son of a B****.

that makes lightspeed about the same as teleportation. Just a fancy teleport spell. That is fine.

Tbh most mages i've seen who have used light speed for movement tend to use it as teleporting.

I agree with most of Kira's points, except for one: that it should only be allowed for mage's with light based magic.

This would inherently make light magic faster than magic's that specifically focus on speed like god leg.

Light speed projectiles are a no of course. I tend to have FAST moving spells, but nothing light speed. E.g. it covers 500ft in a second. Not much time to dodge, but...considering i'm an S rank mage who focuses on speed....kinda makes sense.

The speed of light and the element of light are two different things, so while they may go hand-in-hand in nature, I feel that only light-based magic wielding light speed makes little sense.

That aside, I feel that the very topic of lightspeed had managed to balance itself in a very fun way; let me explain. There are two general possibilities: either you get the speed, or you morph into something and then get it.
In the first case, what happens is that you are either Jesus incarnate, got under a mod's radar and got approved or have a legitimate deathwish. One of those is self-explanatory, the others have obvious ways to be handled, and I think that they have been.
As for the second case, morphing into something and then getting the speed means that you inherently cannot do anything else than move. Shuhei did that by turning into light, I do it by turning into mana particles; to my mind, as long as no one is trying to be witty and phrase his way out of those tradeoffs, the ability is quite balanced as it is (of course, this is leaving the specifics of each spell aside).
Lastly, when it comes to changing direction while moving, it should hardly matter, since if you have morphed into something to attain that speed, you are probably an intangible substance, and if you haven't morphed into anything, you should.

Edit: I forgot to mention that having mutated into a sturdier version of yourself in order to be able to handle light speed is also quite nonsensical. If you have the physical capabilities to withstand the strain of moving at the maximal speed possible, then you are indestructible, unkillable and can travel forward through time; all three of those being indirect benefits you'd get if your body can cope with light speed travel. If a mod is more willing to approve this than to approve the current form of light speed, they need a cup of coffee.

First off I think I can agree the "only light can have light speed" is a bit silly.


Anyway there seems to be a general opinion that light speed is fine because people only use it as teleportation and that the physics of light speed make it improbable for real use. Well a lot of people know the dangers of lightspeed, so they make work arounds "While moving they can bypass the laws of friction," and stuff like that. Then they get away with it and use it left and right.

I think I like the idea of the A-Rank minimum however I think that may be too restricting.

To have lightspeed:
-You must be using a spell, no passive effect can generate lightspeed
-While traveling at lightspeed you are incapable of attacking, catching, grabbing, blocking, anything. Only moving.
-You cannot change direction while moving at lightspeed, you can stop then change directions and start again but not mid travel.
-A lightspeed spell must be A-Rank or higher(?)




On an additional note for the sake of my previously mentioned "App Rubrics" I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on "H-Rank."
How strong can the strongest spell be?
What is the largest AOE it can have?
What kind of speeds do they have available?
What do cooldowns and durations look like?
Really anything that could help me pin the location of "the pinnacle of power." Now I'm not saying the average H-Rank for each area I mean for a mage who specializes in a certain area.

I disagree on not being able to attack in light speed though. It alsways depends on the spell in question. See I use mine to teleport to get in position and use the momentum of it to buff a physical attack. The spell itself needs to be worded right. What if I wanted to turn myself into laser and go forward util I hit something of ranked damage?

What I would instead propose is you need to bypass 3 things in a logical manner: air friction, air pressure and gravity. If you fail to do so it causes stress on your body and thus you take damage per post as the body is literally destroying itself.

Also what I do have to say though is that lightspeed alone may be bad, but add lightspeed and flying. Think about that for a bit.

Either way I agree that lightspeed not used for teleportation purposes (AKA lightspeed jumps) need to be costly. Maybe in HP damage or extra mana, but also remember if you actually hit that person in lightspeed... Its going to hurt. A nickle tossed in direction of the lightspeeder would cause a portion of the body to utterly explode in a bloody mess. No armor will save you from that.

I support this.

I also support a limit on just how fast.. FAST is.

I mean, we're just THIS much closer to all godmodding each other. Next think you know you have people bench pressing houses... at D-Rank...

Why you gotta break balls?

At this point...I would ask why we even need people traveling in light speed buuut I agree on putting restrictions on it. As Kat said, there are a few drawbacks to ultimate speed as well. But I also noticed DMC saying something about changing into particles and stuff in which case I'm guessing the laws of physics won't work? I would say that AOE type of spells should work in these cases? Anyhow, I agree to the limits Kira pointed out except for the not attacking while traveling in lightspeed... It's possible but it's gonna put some pressure on the user because attacking while traveling in that sort of speed...hopefully he won't blow up?

Shuhei wrote:Why you gotta break balls?

Too easy to make a joke here. XD

I see two general standpoints in this argument, so in stead of presenting proof for either, I will address the reason why there is such a disparity.

Based on what values do you judge the acceptability of light speed?

I judge it on real physics; therefore it is utterly absurd to me that anyone even dares -think- of attacking while moving so fast. However, there seem to be people who judge based on other values, logics, rules or whatever else there may be, so...

Before we start another endless debate because of which the topic is so notorious... why not decide by what standards we will judge its fairness first?

I propose real world physics, as those are closest to all, easiest to grasp and require no real dedication to grasp. (Provided no one tries to be a scientist and uses fancy terms.)


Edit: Oh and uh... to the "While moving they can bypass the laws of friction" example:
If they say that, you ask them why that happens. If you do not get an acceptable, reasonable answer, it simply does not happen.
Or have moderation standards changed and things are approved even if they have no solid, logical foundation?

Well Lightspeed is a real world measurement so if it is to be used it should be met with real world physics.

In a site that throws these natural laws out the window. So bear in mind that it should not all be based on science.