Spell warm-up time

[Hamel]

I was thinking the other day about how the spell cool down idea wasn't too great, but I think that a spell warm-up time would be a more realistic way to stop spam casting.

The warm-up period would be the time it takes your character to do whatever he/she does to cast the spell, hand motions, chanting, whatever. And the higher level spells being more complex would take more time to cast. In any case when a magic user becomes more skilled in that spells art (Incantation Evocation etc.) it would take them less time to cast it.

So say that mister pixie mage was in the BRMA and he was going to do a fireball, for instance, so he readys his fireball spell and then starts casting it, then the little bar (maybe) on the client would start to empty, and when it hit the end then it gets cast in the same way we see it now. I think mage spells would have to be a bit stronger to compensate for the timer.

There might even be messages displayed to the other characters in their action box:
"pixie mage has begun casting a spell!"
"pixie mage has finished casting a spell!"

Or if your character has learned the spell he is casting:
"pixie mage has begun casting fireball!"
"pixie mage has finished casting fireball!"

I think that this would work better then a cool-down period, and it would help give mages more of a tactical aspect as well, having to think ahead and everything (paladins too).

So what do you guys think?

[themadhobo]

it sounds like a pretty cool idea, but I think if there were a casting time mages would have to have significant power increases. I usually cast 6 fireballs at once with my pixie fire mage in order to get kills when RDing. If I had to cast one at a time, each fireball would need to be 6x stronger in order for me to have any chance of RDing the way I do now.

It might also be a bit of a hassle for someone to completely redo the way that players cast spells in the game. I doubt any of the wizards would be in the mood right now since the game is down... but its a cool idea anyways, so long as mages were given much much stronger spells to balance it out.

[Hamel]

Yeah, I'd have to say that mage spells would have to be at least 3X more powerful. Maybe 1/2X more powerful healing, remember that the wait time wouldn't be much.

And i meant awhile after the game comes back up silly.

[Bullfrogz]

I don't like it. Wyvern pking is a blast as it is because it's so fast pace. This would only slow it down, alot.
And it may make more sense to have a "warmup" time for spells. But can a paladin really predict when he's going to get hit hard? "Cooldown" is much smoother.

[themadhobo]

well, maybe it would make sense to have warm-up or cool-down based on the art. Doesnt it sound like an incantation would take some sort of... incanting that may take time? Maybe an evocation could be instant, but very tiring on the caster so you need a moments rest afterwards. Good point on the pvp though, I hadnt thought about how much it would slow the pace of pvp, but then again, magic in pvp would be a lot more fun if it were a lot more powerful! so if the spells were several times stronger, pvp would still be fast paced, though not based on spell casting but based on damage dealt.

[Tanm]

Well, yes, but like Bullfrogz said, warmup time would slow down mages in pk no matter what. A warmup time essentially immobilizes mages for a period of time. With a cooldown, they can blast their spells, run around until the cooldown is out, and blast again.

Or is this what you were trying to prevent?

[Hamel]

Actually the warm-up period is simply a alternative, But I think that a warm-up would be a more efficient way of spamcasting nerfing.

I think paladins could think a little bit ahead of time and heal when they get low on health, and remember the warm-up period would be very short, especially healing spells.

I hadn't thought of the pvp aspect but i agree some thing would have to be done to give mages a fighting chance, perhaps they would function better in group pvp with fighter meatshields. Besides mages run around the pvp arena as is, why not make it so they just run when their casting and then turn around and fire?

And as the idea go's spell would be much more devastating in their effect, from a RP perspective mage spells would be something worth worrying about, not just something a big brawny warrior should just shrug off. A fireball should burn the skin from his bones!

In any case a change like this would not be a singular thing but part of a well thought out and balanced plan for change. I think the wizards would have a lot to change in this.

[halldor]

I 've actually run into this sort of thing in a text-based MUD I was playing. You'd cast the spell, but it would take a couple rounds for the effect. So I would cast a healing spell, the monster would hit me a couple more times, and then I would get a message that "you feel better."

Personally, I found this rather irritating, but that's me.

[Kathy]

I have thought of a spell warm up time before, and I think it's a good idea. Casting a spell takes time, like it or not. Maybe just give mages a benefit in all arts on each guild level. Rangers in conjuration, monks and paladins in incantation.
They should get negatives in all other arts.

Wyvern isn't about PK (luckily) so I don't think it will influence the decision a lot if it gets implemented. HOF mages are very easy to play and level (specially the 4 skillpoint/level ones). Instead of making mages more powerful, it would be better to make weapons less powerful.

[Hamel]

Originally Posted by Kathy

Instead of making mages more powerful, it would be better to make weapons less powerful.

Heh, then you'd have to make monsters weaker too.

[Clubbz]

no you wouldn't players are overpowered as is

[Bullfrogz]

If you make weapons and meleers less powerful, than it will be impossible to kill some people. Simply becasue they can heal through hits even easier.

[Clubbz]

Just cut the power of all player related attacks and spells in half

[Bullfrogz]

Then you basically have the same thing.

[Clubbz]

No what you have now, is slightly longer none two hit PvP battles, and this would make training harder because monsters would now seem much stronger.....

[Bullfrogz]

No all it would make is some players invincible in pvp because they can now most defiantly heal through everyone's hits. And monsters wouldn't seem more powerful, just take longer to kill.

[Logwad]

Wait a minute... wouldn't a spell warm-up time make ice spells even weaker?

[themadhobo]

The only use for ice spells in the first place is killing off fire monsters that a proper fire mage cant damage. Anyways, I dont think making weapons weaker would help any if you put a warm up or cool down onto spell casting. The spells ought to just become stronger to make up for the time it takes to cast.
Example: I am on my pixie fire mage where I normally cast 6 fireballs at once. Oh dear! Casting warmup time! I can now only cast them one at a time! This means each one would need to be several times more powerful for me to be able to handle any monsters when I rd. Weakening weapons would only balance pvp, it wouldnt help any when youre fighting monsters. Why not just buff up mages like... damage x 1000, and we can call it even?

[Narhalles]

Every one of you seems to be missing the obvious...

Just upgrade to better (ie stronger) spells.


at the same time weaken resists to spells.


viola! everything is ballanced and rpish.

(go ahead flame me now. I know you all are dying to.)

[themadhobo]

There arent really viable spells for mages that are stronger than firespray and fireball. Dragons breath is a bit ridiculously over priced for skills and the cost of reagents, so what else could we upgrade to?