"The Guidelines"

I'm making an official suggestion to call attention to and hopefully slooooooow the truck' down on a trend effecting all mods I feel.

Any aggression is not directed at individuals or staff in general,  but based on my own values and perspective based on bits'n facts on how things just work,  I can get a little passionate about.  Inasmuch as I can get passionate about anything.   IT should be noted however,  that I do not feel aggression and perceptions of such is something I need to work on.


And that suggestion/what I'm pointing out is religious adherence to "The Guidelines".  Guidelines that aren't even made visible to the public "For Creativity",  and that supposedly even say not to take them to seriously and "the player should get what they want" before hand.


Guidelines being guidelines these should be used as a point of reference from which to work around.   Not adhere to as though they were maximum values.

This, I feel, is making magic apps feel incredibly samey.    If every gosh-tootin' D-rank spell has a hard limit of 15 meters with an unbelievably slow projectile velocity of 7m/s,   everything starts to feel like the same card board cut out with a different paint job.


Nooow..... about that 7m/s...   This is just...   I can't express how much this....  hurts my sanity, without sounding rude.   So I wont.  I'll just try point out why it's ridiculous.

• You could literally jog directly away from it and avoid it by moving Promethus style- along the path of danger,   let alone casually avoid it by continuing to walk at a normal walking pace to the side.

• I'm not even sure how an object moving so slowly would be able to generate any sort of damaging force based on it's velocity alone.  It'd have to be some slow-moving self-contained effect,  such as a buzz-saw projectile that continually shreds things in front of it.

• You aren't supposed to wait for attacks to come at you and then decide you want to dodge them.   "Balancing" magic around that fact as though everyone should be standing around with their hands in their pockets - Especially when damage is so low to begin with (Separate suggestion sometime...) -  is... flabbergasting.  I flabber me gasts'.  That is now how combat works.   If you stand around waiting for things,  you're gun' git hit.  That is the way of things.  That's why it's important to stay mobile unless you are a tank,  and watch your opponent.   Don't watch for incoming spells,  though do that too,   watch for hand gestures.  For body language.  For the draw of a gun,  the pull of a trigger,  the intent in their eyes.  

• There are perfectly sensible ways to balance even instant spells that have next to no window for response.   Projection lines.  Effects that draw attention.  Cracks in the ground,  magic circles appearing.   Cmon.  

Speed needs to be something left up to the player to determine based on their spell and what their spell does.   Staff's goal here should not be to make everything conform,  but to make sure it strikes a true balance.  That there are no absolutes.   Literal auto hits are one thing.  A spell that travels a million meters per second might seem auto hit.  But it's not.  It's a hazard,  it's a threat.  It's a thing.   There are other ways to avoid said thing, so make sure that there are ways to be aware of that million m/s spell is coming.

Even if there was no way it'd be better than being cripplingly limited,  So there was no way for you to dodge?  So what.  Congratulations on taking 2.5% HP damage.  Being pushed into situations where you cannot dodge something is part of combat in the first place,  which usually involves hesitation,  a poor swing of a sword,   or getting caught off-guard.
People getting hit more often is not a bad thing.   It's desperately needed with the way damage works here.    If everything is easy to dodge...  Then it shouldn't be a surprise when people are dancing about not taking hits.






Range and Speed should at minimum be allowed to match the speed and distance that anyone could attain by simply throwing a rock/ball.    54m/s,  140 meters.    140 meters.   These invisible "guidelines" suggest that 100 meters is far for an S-rank spell.

Buuuuuhuuuuhuhuhuuuull pockey.    

100 meters is less than what some would consider medium range.   As someone with experience actually sending things across whatever distance to strike something,  100-300 meters is medium range.    600-1,000+,  that is long range.    Actual effects from magics focusing on long distances at S-ranks should be capable of traveling a few km,  based on the spell itself and how it is designed with other ways to achieve actual balance.

But these things need to be up to the spells themselves.   There should be no strict limitation on this.   A sword slash projectile could be a slower wave of force with lower ranges.   A magically chucked boulder could have a slower travel speed while sailing through the air in an arc.   But an arrow effect?  A bullet?   Cannonball-like blasts?  

Freedom of customization to design the effect you wish to achieve.   "The player should get what they want".   This means working with players to reach an agreement on how to work out their desired effect.  Working with the player.  Not policing them and expecting to be immediately obeyed "My word is law" style.    



Hopefully nobody takes this the wrong way.

k

k

K. o-o

k

idk what's up with the "K" but she makes a fair point.  The rules on this subject as they are do limit players creativity quite a lot. I've been here a long time and I've noticed a pattern where the staff doesn't feel comfortable changing the rules so instead they make new ones to compensate.

Rules can change and sometimes should be changed.

Rules have constantly been changing since the start of the site. We can't please everyone and we sure as hell aren't perfect.

I can, for once, without racking my brain understand Sirenine's point.
I will raise this at a higher level and see what happens. Though any changes would mean every approved app would need to be taken out(as user's request so they can update).