I am 50/50 on this thread topic, which I will not agree nor disagree, except to enjoy things as they are & go on about my own business. However, let it be known this thread topic can directly conflict with innocent pvpers/pks that only aim on using such methods of attack to gain tactical maneuvering. Furthermore this thread topic could directly conflict players freedoms that have been available since pking started in Felucca. I will openly say that I am not one whom intentionally will grief a player by chain discord or peacemaking their blue pet, unless fighting in combat with the said player. Don't get me wrong, I too long for a systematic process to void griefing, but this is an mmo with rule sets in place that have been deemed 'workable' for a llllllong period of time. Does this thread reach out to enough players to warrant a change?. All in I would like to discuss a few ways I would go about altering Discordance, Peacemaking, as well as alittle bit of bardic misc history, & total catastrophe as we know it.
How would such a countermeasure take place for Discordance? The only way I would go along with altering the course of flagging criminal while applying Discord to a blue target, would be to make Discord no longer have a bardic timer to reuse skill, OR via incorporate a range check to diminish (buff dissipates after moving x tiles away from initial buff/debuff (however you see it) position). A range check with Discordance would be an obvious solution to remove the buff/debuff (however you see it) without upsetting the balance of anything on a larger scale.
Peacemaking itself has two fuctions for single target, & for area effect. The single target which can only to my knowledge in Trammel proc vs guilded/enemy player pets, while the area effect Peacemaking can effect 'everything' in the vicinity (sigh). Peacemaking if some of you are not already received a nerf years back as to incorporate an extended timer to re-toggle the Area Affect Peacemaking sometime around 2005 or 2006 (whenever Necro Wither area effect Peacemaking became widespread for farming Tokuno arties at the Tokuno Champ spawn). Yet the Pen & Ink bug worked for years after to allow the skill to reset for another instant use. Adding a diminishing returns per target affected with Area Effect Peacemaking would be an obvious solution to remove the potential redundancy of chain Area Effect Peacemaking without upsetting the balance of anything on a larger scale.
I still remember the joys of using my bardic stealth pk during the Juo'Nars/Dupre Trinsic Raid. It took finesse to entice Lich Lords near targets & then provoke them onto said targets for bardic pking back then. People were far too ready to run since Felucca was the only facet at the time, and you had to watch your step at times. Some had to dig deep into their will power for settingng foot into non guardzone areas back then (Trinsic Raid also caused guardzone in Trinsic to be suspended). Something else to considered about 'illicit Barding' activity that has long since been forgotten, is once upon a time players were once able to Entice/Peace/ Provoke NPCs & guards to their bidding without being counter hostile & guard wackable. Then at some point around lets say around 2000 (i forget the exact date), you were able to outrun a guard when called on you for being criminal for w/e reason grey/red in Felucca (reds were once able to have guards sacked on them instantly after stepping onto any gzone area including towns). Calling guards on criminals went from auto gwack pre ren, to delayed guards movement in fast walk mode around 2000, then back to auto gwack with the halberd hit & lightning sound, after people complained enough about Thieving skill having minimal negative repercussions at the end of 2k heading through 2001. I remember the reading about the new skill Discordance, and was literally listed as a replacement for Enticement on patch notes eons ago. Lets recap what Enticement did shall we: Encitement allowed players to stay invisible while using a skill to legitimately lure monsters to the players selected destination by cursor arrow (is this any different than people using stealth herders currently, gee I wonder). Here's the real hoot, this skill had been deemed grief able to effect players in Trammel, then got removed when all the by nothing had changed since pre ren. Trammel is the only reason the dev team second guessed the nature of this skill, & its applications.
I can see such work being done to incorporate the said skill to prevent grief while in Trammel naturally, but while in Felucca, the same rules do not apply. Since Discord lasts as a buff over time effect, completely removing the fail safe unflaggable usage for Discord could be considerably counterproductive to people in Felucca. People have been able to take advantage of criminal flagging to circumvent an intended purpose while adding a 'grief' factor just as this thread sees Discord & Peacemaking in use vs blue targets. Now in fixing one thing, yet another could be broken involving criminal flags, decisions decisions. Perhaps now isn't the best time to propose revamp the way criminal flags occur with Discord before first adding a timer on Forged Pardons (24hr cooldown to deny players the ability to flip flop, back & fourth between the 4th & 5th count which makes the player red), removing the talisman summoned Lava Serpent Aoe Damage, altering Reflect Physical Damage modifier to not proc when not flagged in combat (blue attacks a criminal in gzone, RPD can proc & gwack the criminal, people luuuved doing this with mirror image, but sadly it can still occur even with no mirror image to this day), and lastly Magic Reflection *takes a breathe in thought* (players can wait until the moments before turning blue vs a hostile by running away/hiding, then reengage on a flag'd target, stand in gzone & wait for magic reflect to initially proc, in which the initial pool of reflection reflect does NOT refresh the target hostility).
Now I ask are you or anyone else going to propose change toward how these examples among dozens of other griefing gimmicks work after Discord & Peacemaking in theory is altered??????? The answer should be no, and far fetched to go on a fix/nerf rampage until this is a candy land game with unicorns trotting off rainbows flying out of everyone's rear. Players have at their discretion the ability to make macros for toggling on & off combat mode for re-engaging, as well as making macros for pet commands, and spells etc to assist. The best way YOU can fix your own situation is to have a pet summoning ball, a boat, & as already mentioned in a post by Kyronix to use any means necessary in fighting off this Invasion. Get tactical by call your pet off, invis spamming your pet, and using a confusion blast pot in attempts to sick the captain onto the Ahole that's disc/peace spamming. I've already done this to help some blues get an idiotic spammer a death or two. Also you can render an invasion npc unmovable as per say Kyronix the okaying to block invasion npcs off (box it with candelabra in a box chopping, bagballs, or w/e block able items). If the skill affects players in Trammel, then a cause for change is clause able, but if this is only a Felucca issue as stated on this thread, then it is a play at your own risk assessment, causing you to deal with the situation at your own leisure. Whether you agree or disagree, proposing a change to these skills presents a clear and present danger with player freedom in Felucca. Quite frankly do you think I or anyone whom loves that freedom will give up a portion of it so you can use your game-play at ease with no opposition in Felucca? It is for my previously stated sentence that I would not have a problem if Discordance (but not Peacemaking) buff/debuff (depending on how you see it) could flag the bard hostile when used on a blue target. However I will not state whether or not the Discordance buff/debuff 'should' get altered, I wash my hands of this, goodbye.
*Paints face half blue on each side & yells*,"FREEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM."
. Being guard whacked I can totally understand the issue but I don't see where she said it was a red char. Also a tamer has a way to save their pet. Log out. Most other templates that don't have a pet pretty well has to fight or die when situations happen. A tamer can easily invis, log out, log back in and pet in stable and their char is safe.
