Topic ANNOUNCEMENTS for WIZARDS (9)
By GS3-ALTIRON from PLAY.NET
On Apr 22, 2002 at 05:37
Subject Enchanting Notes (12)
While it doesn't appear there is any great need to justify the changes to the spell Enchant (925), it is still important to point out what the problems are we are trying to address with the new version of this spell. Keep in mind that the players themselves more than GMs were instrumental in setting these goals. To briefly list these without much detail they are as follows in no particular order:
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1. Provide equal access to the spell for all wizards with comparable skills.
2. Establish a means of controlling how many highly enchanted items are created.
3. Remove the problems caused by mana pools.
4. Provide a more fair distribution of wealth.
5. Hopefully avoid the problems caused by to many highly enchanted items in the game.
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To accomplish this we made changes so mana pools will no longer be the controlling factor used by the Enchant spell. This will provide wizards with equal skills the same opportunity to enchant items. To accomplish this we had to make a number of other changes in order to control and limit enchanting.
Wizards working on highly enchanted items will be restricted to one project at a time. In order to insure this limitation isn't made pointless and ineffective the restriction will be applied to the account. Besides, if we didn't some players would just collect a lot of wizards for the sole purpose of enchanting. This means one major project per account. The reasons for this restriction are more than just to help control the number of enchanted items being created. This also helps avoid problems caused by a few players enchanting a considerable number of items, which in turns has a variety of problems for everyone else.
The time required to enchant may be considerably longer than previously experienced under the old system. Preparing an item for enchantment will require the item to be tempered and enchanted as many times as the enchantment being attempted. This means enchanting an item from 0x to 1x will require a single temper and enchant just like it use to. However, to enchant an item to 5x will require tempering and enchanting the item 5 times before the enchantment is finished. Each temper will have to cure and be enchanted before the next one can be made. Unlike the old system, an attempt to temper an item may fail. A failed attempt will not damage or destroy the item. Once an item is cured, it will not remain tempered indefinately as before. This time isn't short, but if not used the temper will wear off. Alternatively, at any point in the process the wizard can always choose to stop the project and remove the temper.
The way tempering potions are used has changed. You will need different potions for different types of projects, but until the new alchemy and potion creation system is created someday we will make do with the potions that already exist. Potions will be available at the Wizard Guild and eventually players will be able to create their own.
While it will still be possible to enchant items as high as 10x, and no further, potions and/or facilities to create enchanted items to this level will not be readily available. For all intents and purposes there will theoretically be a limit on how far a player can enchant an item. The circumstances and conditions under which a player will be able to typically enchant an item should allow them to go as high as 7x.
Items enchanted under the new system will be more resistant to damage and destruction. Some merchants might provide updating for the older items, but this will also result in a reduction of enchantments on the item.
Enchanting an item will be more difficult. When casting enchant, the chance of failure will probably be greater than before for most wizards. However, the chances of catastrophic failure that results in item loss will not be any greater than it was previously using the old spell. Actually probably lower as far as the chances are concerned. Keep in mind, only the Final Enchantment has a chance of catastrophic failure. The enchantments preparing the item for the final enchantment may fail, and may even damage the item, but they shouldn't completely obliterate the item. (Note: most failures under the old system resulted from mistakes by the players that could have been avoided.)
To assist the wizard in their work, they should now find that using a tempering potion as before or an updated version of Elemental Detection (405) on a work in progress provides them with the information they need to know about the status of the project.
While there is likely no perfect solution everyone will agree upon, I believe we have come about as close as we can to accomplishing out goals for the new version of Enchant.
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1. Provide equal access to the spell for all wizards with comparable skills.
The spell functions the same for everyone now.
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2. Establish a means of controlling how many highly enchanted items are created.
We actually can control the spell now. Previously we could not Granted, we cannot strictly control the number of Enchanted items in the game without any being removed, but we have solved one part of this problem by putting controls on how many are being added.
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3. Remove the problems caused by mana pools.
You can now enchant without any mana pools. Mana pools are no longer used to control enchanting.
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4. Provide a more fair distribution of wealth. The game will never be perfectly fair for everyone. I'm sorry, but this is reality. We have done our part to make this as fair as we possibly can without spoiling the fun for everyone. There are limiting factors that help level the playing field without completely obstructing the ability of players to properly use the spell as it was intended.
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5. Hopefully avoid the problems caused by to many highly enchanted items in the game.
Admittedly, until we have a method for removing enchanted items from the game, or at least reducing the enchantment on those items, we wont be limiting how many are in the game. Although, when/if breakage is eventually introduced this will go a long way towards accomplishing this goal. This is especially true if we maintain a strict control over enchantments being limited to 7x.
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Now to answer a few questions that may not have clearly been stated already, or which a few details would be helpful. For starters, what are those limitations on Enchanting again?
Currently there are no limitations on enchanting items from 0x to 4x. These are lesser enchantments and the tempering times typically wont change much. Anything over 5x is considered a major project, and these are limited to one per account. While you no longer may need to drain the mana pools to enchant, the more wizards enchanting will effect the mana flows so that you may be required to wait a bit longer to get the needed temper on the item before you can enchant.
So to put it simply, you can be working on as many 0x to 4x enchantments at the same time as you like. However, you can only work on one major project at a time. A major project is any enchantment over 4x.
So how long will it take to temper that item? For items under 4x, probably not that long, but these times may vary based on the item being enchanted and the skill of the Wizard. For the most part these times will be fairly stable. For items over 4x, the times may vary more depending on how many wizards are Enchanting such items. The more wizards enchanting items to 5x, the longer the tempering time will probably take to prepare your item for enchantment to 5x. At least you wont have to worry about someone tempering dozens of items and pushing that time higher, since only one item can be in progress at a time per account.
Which potion works best? That depends on the enchantment you are working on and this is something you will want to work on. However, the rohnuru potion is a good one to start with. It works for enchanting items to 1x. A duqnuru should be useful for 2x and 3x enchantments. Dirtokh on 4x and 5x. The more volitile potions will be better suited for the higher enchantments, and of course a Mirtokh works for the 6x and 7x enchantments. The sisfu potion is a little different, so you will want to test that to decide how best to use it. It works on any project up to 5x. The sarmoc potion is still useful for removing the temper from a project, but you could always wait till it wears off too. Eventually there will be other potions, and it will be left to the players to figure out how best to use them.
What potions work best, what skills are best, which training path is best, and all those other questions about how to perfect the character for enchanting will have to be figured out by the players. All we will say is that the most important factor for enchanting is skill with spells, not level alone.
Yes, items enchanted with the new spell will be more resistant to damage and catastrophic failure when breakage is released. NO, I did not say items enchanted under the old system. Items enchanted with the old system will not have this advantage.
Tech stuff. The old system was not well suited for monitoring or controlling. The new system is. Not only can we easily adjust the times required for enchanting, but doing so is tracked on a table any GM can check. Its also comes with a handy date/time stamp with signature of who last modified the data and when. Just don't pester the GMs asking if it was changed. If you simply must know, post your question and I'll probably get around to replying eventually. I'll post something like, its working as intended.
When you temper items, and when you enchant, the numbers are now tracked on a handy table any GM can consult. It tracks these values for a full year so we can monitor how Enchant is being used. In addition we've improved on the logging, although some features are not yet implimented in our system. This isn't anything for the players to worry about, nor would they care, but it sure makes our job a lot easier if we want to find out what the players are doing to the game with Enchant. 
Hey, not only do we track the players, but merchants will be using the same mechanics. Same code, and we track their enchantments too. We will cheat a little for merchants of course, since we don't want the customers standing around waiting forever on the tempering time. The tracking and handling is the same though, and this is good.
This covers the major points of the new Enchanting system. There are some details open to change at this point, and we reserve the right to make any adjustments prior releasing it of course.
GM Altiron
reg