It will be interesting to see the comments of those who play mages when they figure out what wearing leather will do to them every time they get hit by a ratman.
I was reading through this thread, trying to understand what on earth any of this meant... and then this post just got to the nub of the issue. What exactly
does this mean for mages for instance, a template that's never really needed Stamina for PvM, but possibly does for PvP? I don't have a clue. Do I have to increase Stamina because leather armour will itself apply a Stamina drain? What about metal shields used for the otherwise wasted offhand? What if you're using artefacts for some of the pieces? Frankly, I find the increased complexity utterly depressing; Because let me be honest here, with AoS's switch to Diablo system,
a gaming style which is it has to be said is heavily divisive, I simply stopped building warriors because I tire of struggling with constantly analysing stats and min/maxing their gear. It saps all of the fun out of the game for me, because I'm not in game to eke out every minuscule advantage; I don't take pride in DPS charts or winning at all costs; I want narrative and communal experiences, I want to go new places, see new things... I recently hosted a Charybdis event on Europa, on my roleplay fisher who only uses a cutlass and pirate hat because it fits the character. He can barely beat up a daemon, but that's ok because he relies on his wits to snaffle fish... or can run about on his wrecked ship healing people by just slapping a bandage on, or poking the odd cheeky tentacle. But if I wanted to keep the hat and actually fight, I have to redesign an entire suit already, to fit around the mods on that hat. And why does even his cutlass have a Stealth special on it? Are Ninjas famous for using cutlasses? And why do both special skills sap Mana instead of Stamina, is he supposed to be a mage as well? What's the point of all this, even if I can work it out...??
Post AoS user figures show how divisive and for many, how alienating the system was back then. Since then we've added Imbuing, multiple skill combinations and synergies, and now you propose to complicate it even further, to the point that many of us, who have years or even decades in game, can't really understand what you're trying to do? Please, go back to the drawing board and try again. You need something simple, to the point... something which, as many others have suggested, can be explained to a newbie coming fresh to the game, and wondering why wearing Plate matters...
This is just a suggestion, but why not drop the entire Stamina angle, and simply give a clear, role focused bonus to the armour?
Leather has either an inherent +Mana or +Fast Cast, something mage related
Plate has +Damage Eater or +Hit Points, something tanking related.
Dragon Scale: +Resistances or depending on the colour, + Fire (Red Scale) +Poison (Green Scale) damage. A simple, magically charged bonus to go with how people think armour made from dragons would be.
Wood armour +Archery related skills if you want to continue an elf theme?
Bone Armour +Necromancy related skills. Maybe even allow multiple summons the more boned-up you are?
Worried about imbalances? Put it on Test and slowly nerf weaponry to counterbalance, after all the stats-nerds and Iwannawin-wonks have torn it apart looking for imbalances sure. But please, please drop the over reliance on stats and figures. Remember that Hildebrandt painting of UO? THAT'S what people want to be... although the lady far left in the tower is
possibly about to chug what may be a Heal Pot, I don't see anyone sitting up there with an abacus saying "Wait, before I can punch that lizardman, I need to make sure I've not drunk one in the last 20 seconds, and I've exercised just enough to have the exact stamina to wield this weapon between now and then..." whilst the Lizardman says "Do you mind hurrying this up, there's blokes on the ladder behind me suffering from Spined Scale related stamina loss..."
That dragon over there though? And the mage going "Crackle crackle pew pew"? That's me saying "All Kill" and having
fun. The craftsmen though? They're sobbing in their rude huts and refusing to come out except for mega millions, because they have to slave over the paperwork for an hour before they can even sell what the client actually wants when they say "Give me a suit that'll beat up that dragon..."
KEEP IT SIMPLE.
