_________________________________________
     /              -Combat Forum-             \
     |           -November 15, 2000-           |
     |      Recorded by Aubrey McMichaels,     |
     |      Candi Cane, and Floyd Barrett      |
     |       Edited by Aubrey McMichaels       |
     \___http://pages.prodigy.net/aubreymcm/___/

[The War Zone]
Deep trenches and foxholes provide minimal protection from the calamity around you. 
 The loud echo of shells slamming into the earth resonates as the blare of an air raid
 siren tells of destruction riding the wind.  Gunfire clatters in all directions as
 sides of the conflict pound mercilessly at each other.  You breathe in the strong
 taste of smoke and unsettled ground, a clear signal of the devastating force of the
 firepower exhibited in this war.
Obvious exits: out.

Dateline 11/12/2000: IMPORTANT COMBAT FORUM!

A forum to discuss the changes to the Modus Operandi combat system and how they are
 affected by the new skill system and reallocation will be held Wednesday, November
 15th at 9:30PM Eastern, hosted by GameMaster Trevor Rage.  This will be the last
 combat-related gathering before the new combat system is released, so please be sure
 to attend, if possible, to assure that you understand this new combat system as well
 as how you may wish to reallocate your skills in the best manner in respect to combat. 
 See you there!

END NEWS ITEM

Trevor Rage calls for silence and the room settles down.
Trevor Rage hears a pin drop.
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. Combat."
Trevor Rage says, "Before I dig into it.. I'll go over this new "Cone of Silence" ..
 the forum mechanics that keep the room mostly quiet."
Trevor Rage opens the floor for discussion.
Leila Meridian picks up a cracked egg.
Leila Meridian cracks a cracked egg over Alec Harlequin's head.
Egg slime oozes down Alec Harlequin's forehead.
Trevor Rage calls for silence and the room settles down.
Trevor Rage says, "Alright.. here we go."
A clump of egg yolk drips off of Alec Harlequin's nose and falls to the ground.
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. the cone.  First of all.. if you wish to add yourself to the
 line, you will no longer raise your hand."
Alec Harlequin seems a bit annoyed with the pieces of scrambled egg on his head.
Trevor Rage asks, "You'll type ASK and a question.  Example: ASK Why is the sky blue?"
Trevor Rage says, "If you want to see your place in line, type HELP."

help
You are not in the list to ask a question.  There are currently 0 people in line.  You
 may type ASK and a message to ask a question, such as:

ASK Why is the sky blue?

Trevor Rage says, "If you want to leave the list, type LEAVE."
Trevor Rage says, "If you want to change your question, just ASK again.  If you change
 your question, you will not lose your place in line."
Alec Harlequin shakes the last of the egg residue from his head.
Trevor Rage says, "That said.. we'll get into the combat stuff.  I have a ton to
 cover."
Trevor Rage says, "I'm going to describe the new combat system in detail first, things
 you need to know.  When I'm done with that, I'll then start answering questions.  You
 may ASK your question at any time and you'll be placed in line."
Trevor Rage says, "The first element I'll discuss is damage and how it's handled.  This
 is an important aspect and it has some very big changes."
Trevor Rage coughs.
Trevor Rage says, "For those who could not turn off your comm, should be able to now."
Trevor Rage says, "Anyway.. to continue.."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Damage in the past has very simple.  First of all, you had 15 damage
 locations.. head, neck, and so on.  This is changing, due to resource considerations."
Trevor Rage says, "Players will have 13 damage areas.. basically, the only areas we
 took out are the eyes.  Your eyes can no longer be damaged."
Trevor Rage says, "This isn't to say you can't be blinded by stalkers, for those who
 were getting happy."
Trevor Rage smirks.
Trevor Rage says, "Perps/NPCs will have ten damage areas.  We dropped eyes, Feet and
 combined the chest and abdomen into a general torso location."
Trevor Rage says, "This does give you, the player, an advantage.  You have more places
 you can be hit to spread the damage more."
Trevor Rage says, "The next change in damage is severities."
Trevor Rage says, "Before you had minor, serious and critical."
Trevor Rage says, "You now have 7 ranks.. insignificant, minor, moderate, serious,
 severe and critical."
Trevor Rage says, "This spreads out the damage some, more breathing room, so to speak."
Trevor Rage says, "Another change, however, is that severity ranks are cumulative.  If
 you have a rank 1 (insignificant) slice injury on your chest and take a rank 3 (minor)
 slice injury to the chest... 3+1 = 4.  You now have a rank 4 chest injury.. moderate."
Trevor Rage says, "Er.. sorry guys.. I missed a severity.. insignificant, slight,
 minor, moderate, serious, severe and critical."
Trevor Rage says, "And by the way.. a critical injury is pretty darn grizzly.  You
 don't want one."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Damage types.  We have had in the past: blunt, slice, pierce and
 burn."
Trevor Rage says, "We now have slicing, piercing, crushing (blunt), burning,
 electrical, freezing, disease, dissolving (erosion ala acid), implosion."
Trevor Rage says, "I expect you will not see some of the stranger types right away. 
 But you'll see them."
Trevor Rage says, "Bleeding.. we have 5 levels of bleeding.."
Trevor Rage says, "Note these numbers, this is the only time I'm gonna give you the raw
 numbers on these bleeding ranks.."
Trevor Rage winks.
Trevor Rage says, "Slight, 1-3 damage per 30 sec."
Trevor Rage says, "Light, 3-7 damage"
Trevor Rage says, "Moderate, 8-11"
Trevor Rage says, "Heavy, 10-18"
Trevor Rage says, "Lethal, 14-36"
Trevor Rage says, "That's how many BP's you'll lose per 30 sec. you're bleeding."
Trevor Rage says, "As per tradition, those with good First Aid can heal injuries and
 bleeding."
Trevor Rage says, "Those numbers are subject to change if needbe, for balance.  That's
 the current setup."
Trevor Rage says, "We also will have poison ranks in the same line, same amounts."
Trevor Rage says, "Poison will likely be curable by antidotes players can obtain,
 however, at first poison will only be handled in the ER.  On the bright side, nothing
 uses that poison.. yet."
Trevor Rage says, "And that should cover damage."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. next topic.. weapons and armor."
Trevor Rage says, "BIG, major, huge, tremendous change.  Read: It's kinda big."
Trevor Rage says, "First thing.. weapons will need to be converted to a new system of
 weaponry.  Every weapon.  Some will be easy to automatically convert when you logon,
 no problem.  Some will not and yours truly will have the honor of fixing it for you. 
 If your weapon is not converted, you'll know it as soon as you try to use it."
Trevor Rage says, "Same thing for armor."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. let's look at how the old system worked.  Let's pretend you
 have a knife and your buddy has a huge sword of death and slaying.  You decided to
 beat the stuffing out of each other."
Trevor Rage says, "Well, guess what?  For the most part, you were both using the same
 weapons.  Very minor differences."
Trevor Rage says, "That will no longer be the case.  Instead, your dagger will hit for
 low damage but have a low roundtime.  His sword of mega kill everything will hit for
 ten tons but have a huge roundtime, probably."
Trevor Rage says, "Each weapon will have its own personality and attributes, making it
 act as realistic as possible."
Trevor Rage says, "Now note.. when I say "power".. I mean the ability to inflict BP
 damage and such.  I do not mean how easy it is to hit with it."
Trevor Rage says, "If you have a +50 knife, meaning it has a +50 bonus to hit things..
 it will still have a +50 to hit things."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. here's one thing, however.  We have established in the past
 that weapons with a bonus to attack or defend should have a bonus of -60 to +60."
Trevor Rage says, "Despite that standard, we have some weapons with a bonus outside of
 the -60 to +60 range.  These are somewhat rare, however, they certainly exist."
Trevor Rage says, "These weapons will no longer continue to have a bonus outside of
 this realm.  If you have a weapon with a bonus below -60 or above +60, it will be
 modified to fit the caps.  If you prefer, you may instead sell your weapon back at the
 price you paid for it."
Trevor Rage says, "So, if you have a +80 sword, well it's +60 now.  If you want to sell
 it back for the price you paid the merchant for it, we'll buy it back at that price."
Trevor Rage says, "The reasoning is simple."
Trevor Rage says, "If you have an item with ridiculously high bonuses.. firstly, that
 was probably not intended and certainly not warranted by our rules of making items. 
 Secondly, the biggest issue.. it totally throws combat balance off.  Weapons and armor
 provide a huge boon to the owner as is.  Enough of a bonus so as to make combat much,
 much easier than it would be without it."
Trevor Rage says, "As to armor.. this same rule applies to armor.  No defense bonus of
 less than -60 or more than +60 will be allowed.  Additionally, no armor will be
 allowed to have an attack bonus as there's no realistic way a BP vest is going to
 improve your t-bar swing."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "Another item being adjusted is weights."
Trevor Rage says, "We're not going to have +60 massive BP armor that weights less than
 a lb.  And yes some exist."
Trevor Rage says, "It's not fair to the other 99% of the game who will never have any
 chance of owning that armor, no matter how much cash they have."
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. if you guys are still with me.. I think that was the only major
 "bad" part of this forum."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. as to weapons and armor in general... here are some items that
 each weapon will have special to it.."
Trevor Rage says, "ATTTACKs: Damage power, Breakage Power, Range."
Trevor Rage says, "er ATTACKs."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "THROWs: Damage Power, Breakage Power, Range."
Trevor Rage says, "SHOOTing: Damage Power, Breakage Power, Range, Jam Rate, Misfire
 Rate, Ammo Type, Load Time."
Trevor Rage says, "Damage power is how much damage you can dish out to something with
 this weapon."
Trevor Rage says, "Breakage power is how hard to can nail the other guy's weapon or
 armor, in an attempt to break it."
Trevor Rage says, "Range means how close you have to be to hit with it.  I'll discuss
 ranges more in a bit"
Trevor Rage says, "Jam Rate is how often a firearm (firearms only) jams, causing you to
 take a brief time to clear the gun."
Trevor Rage says, "Misfire is when you fire a gun but the charge doesn't fire
 correctly.  Just a wasted shot."
Trevor Rage says, "Every gun, bow and so on will have a time required to load.  As a
 general rule, guns will take much longer to load than you are used to currently.  Bows
 will take much less time."
Trevor Rage says, "Again, as a general rule."
Trevor Rage says, "Additionally.. other info your weapon will have specific to it.."
Trevor Rage says, "Hands Required.  Some weapons need both of your hands to use.  Some
 don't."
Trevor Rage says, "Pairability. This is whether or not you can use this weapon with
 another in a pair.  Example: A handgun in each hand."
Trevor Rage says, "Breakability.  This is how likely the weapon is to take damage. 
 Basically, how sturdy it is.  A t-bar is sturdy.  A handgun is not."
Trevor Rage says, "Durability. This is, more or less, how much damage your weapon can
 take before it's broken completely.  Kinda like how many body points it has."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "And weight.  Because of the standards we use for weaponry, weapons
 typically cannot be lightened.  This is a gameplay choice, not a realism one."
Trevor Rage says, "Frankly, it just made it impossible to figure out which container
 could hold what when you had 10 different t-bars of different weights."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "Armor... here's the scoop on it."
Trevor Rage says, "Armor has a specific location it is worn at.  It covers specific
 body areas."
Trevor Rage says, "Each armor resists damage at varying amounts.  A thin patrol vest
 will not protect from a gunshot as much as a level IV tactical vest would."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Clash strength.  This is how sturdy the armor is.  Armor can damage
 an attacker's weapon."
Trevor Rage says, "Durability.  This is basically how much of a beating the armor can
 take.  As a general rule, most armor can take a pretty good licking."
Trevor Rage says, "Weight.. this is more flexible than weapons.  Armor can be lightened
 for a cost, up to 50% lighter of its normal weight."
Trevor Rage says, "Now that's I've scared you all to death, let's talk about breakage."
Trevor Rage says, "Your weapons and armor will -NOT- break 'for good'.  They will not
 be deleted when durability hits zero."
Trevor Rage says, "Everyone breathe."
Trevor Rage winks.
Hope Fontaine chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "I'm not going to promise it will never do that.. but it's not in the
 plans currently."
Trevor Rage says, "What *will* happen, is if your weapon or armor hits bottom of the
 barrel on its durability, it will cease to work as a weapon or armor until repaired."
Trevor Rage asks, "Now.. how do you get it fixed?"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, there are two ways.  Remember the maintenance kits and stuff
 in the Gizmogoria?  If you, or a fellow player, have good Crafts skill, you can repair
 your items yourselves."
Trevor Rage says, "You can repair up to 50% of your weapon's durability.. depending on
 your crafts skill."
Trevor Rage says, "Good trade skill.  Not everyone is going to train it up or
 reallocate it.. whether you guys repair stuff for each other for free or charge for it
 is up to you as a society."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Trevor Rage says, "The second way of repairing.  There will be a repair room added to
 Yeardley's.  They will repair weapons and armor for a cost."
Trevor Rage says, "The cost is determined by weapon type, level of damage and any
 bonuses to attack/defend it has."
Trevor Rage says, "This repair room will be available immediately after the new combat
 launches, it's already built."
Trevor Rage says, "Each weapon/armor has a 'base cost'."
Trevor Rage says, "This base cost is generally set according to how powerful the
 weapon/armor is, and how 'exotic' it is.  If it's some fancy import weapon or a
 medieval piece, expect it to cost more to buy and repair."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. I mentioned medieval.. since we do have RenFaire .. and since
 we do have players who want ye auld platemail, let me mention this.."
Trevor Rage says, "There is a reason no military forces run around in platemail."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "It's hot, it's unbelievably heavy and it isn't perfect defense on
 top of that."
Trevor Rage says, "However.. if you want it, you can get it."
Trevor Rage says, "As a reference.. a set of full plate will fit in no known container
 except a locker.  It's extremely heavy.  It protects really well against most attack
 types.  However, if you take electrical damage, you might as well kiss your scrambled
 <cough goodbye."
Trevor Rage says, "However, if you can bear the weight and avoid electrical damage, it
 has extremely good protective value.  Your call.  I expect most will go with more
 modern armors."
Trevor Rage says, "Ok..the engagement system."
Trevor Rage says, "This has nothing to do with Island romance.  I do combat, not fuzzy
 weddings."
Trevor Rage smirks.
Trevor Rage says, "The engagement system means that when you walk in a room, you are no
 longer assumed to be standing right next to everything and everyone in that room."
Trevor Rage says, "If you want to nail a perp over the head with a t-bar, you need to
 get close enough to do so."
Trevor Rage says, "We will have two ranges: missile and melee."
Trevor Rage says, "Missile means you can use a gun, bow, thrown weapon without getting
 close.  Melee means you're face to face fighting close."
Trevor Rage says, "I thought about making a middle range between missile and melee but
 opted not to, as this is a big change and I wanted it to be easy for all of us to
 adjust to."
Trevor Rage says, "The speed with which you engage something is 13 to 20 seconds, based
 on agility."
Trevor Rage says, "Your ability to retreat out of a close fight is based on agility
 also, for reference."
Trevor Rage says, "You -can- engage an enemy from hiding, to sneak up."
Trevor Rage says, "Also, if you manage to hide from something you're close to (which is
 rather hard but doable), retreat never fails."
Trevor Rage says, "This gives our hiders a nice perk.  And note, hiding will be
 available to all players, not just BCC, by the time the combat system is released."
Trevor Rage says, "You will ENGAGE <perp or ADVANCE <perp.  To back away, DISENGAGE or
 RETREAT."
Trevor Rage says, "Our ranged fighters in here will want to stay at a distance.  Fire,
 Step back, Fire, Step Back.. and so on."
Trevor Rage says, "Same for thrown weapons users."
Trevor Rage says, "This way your weapon takes minimal damage as do you personally."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Trevor Rage says, "Alright.. attack commands. "
Trevor Rage says, "ATTACK, THROW, SHOOT, AIM and DISARM will continue to be available
 as they are currently."
Trevor Rage says, "Further weapon based commands will undoubtedly be added.  Those are
 currently the weapon-based commands."
Trevor Rage says, "Alright.. unarmed combat."
Trevor Rage says, "We have, 40, count them.. -40- unarmed attack commands total."
Trevor Rage says, "I'm going to read them out now.  Might wanna write these down."
Trevor Rage says, "Grappling: Bearhug, Choke, Head Butt, Tackle, Suplex, Reverse Slam,
 Reverse Suplex, Sleeper Hold, Pile Driver, Power Bomb."
Trevor Rage says, "Kicking: Kick, Roundhouse, Knee, Flying Kick, Reverse Kick, Snap
 Kick, Jump Kick, Crescent Kick, Sweep, Side Kick."
Trevor Rage says, "Punching: Punch, Jab, Uppercut, Hook, Elbow, Reverse Punch, Scissor
 Punch, Hammer Strike, Spearhand, Lunge Punch."
Trevor Rage says, "Throwing: Throw, Slam, Hip Throw, Foot Wheel, Scissor Throw,
 Shoulder Wheel, Scoop Throw, Valley Drop, Side Drop, Corner Drop."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. a commentary here.. "
Trevor Rage says, "You do not need to know all of these.  These are options.  You want
 to type ATTACK over and over?  Go for it.  You wanna PUNCH over and over?  Cool there
 too."
Trevor Rage says, "However, you will find that these attacks have their own special
 features.  Example, a CHOKE always does neck damage if you land it.  A sweep will
 always score a knockdown if it connects."
Trevor Rage says, "A Corner Drop has no penalty if you're lying down unlike most
 attacks.  You get knocked down?  Corner Drop to take them to your level."
Trevor Rage says, "Jump Kick and Flying Kick can be performed from missile and will put
 you in melee as if you had engaged them."
Trevor Rage says, "As if this wasn't enough.. Trainer "Merchants" will teach even more
 moves to those lucky enough to happen across them."
Trevor Rage says, "Another note.. this is an important one.."
Trevor Rage says, "THROW and TACKLE are *NO LONGER* Ok to use on your buddies. They
 will land you a warrant, as of the new combat system."
Trevor Rage says, "This is because THROW and TACKLE will do physcical damage like other
 attacks, aside from stuns and such."
Trevor Rage says, "Aside from that, it's fun and all.. but it's completely out of
 character."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage says, "I -will- provide a COMBAT option just like THROWWEAPON to block
 throwing/tackling players, for those worried about doing it out of habit."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. I'm aware that some of you use these verbs to handle disputes
 with other players.  While not immediately available, a method of duel/challenge will
 be available at a later time."
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. Stances."
Trevor Rage says, "Stancing isn't changing.. in that you still have Stance Berserk,
 Stance Relaxed etc.."
Trevor Rage says, "However, you will be able to set -how- you defend."
Trevor Rage says, "STANCE PARRY, STANCE EVASION, STANCE ROLL."
Trevor Rage says, "Parry uses your weapon skill + dexterity.  It also counts your
 weapon bonus."
Trevor Rage says, "Evasion counts your evasion + agility.  It does not count any weapon
 bonus if you have a weapon in hand."
Trevor Rage says, "Roll counts your acrobatics + agility.  It does not count any weapon
 bonus if you have a weapon in hand."
Trevor Rage says, "You can use any of those.. up to you."
Trevor Rage says, "You cannot parry a bullet, arrow or thrown weapon.  In that case, if
 you are set to STANCE PARRY you will use Evasion or Roll instead.. whichever skill is
 higher."
Trevor Rage says, "Of course, parrying raises weapon skill, rolling raises acrobatics,
 and evasion raises.. bet you can guess."
Trevor Rage winks.
Trevor Rage says, "So, you can raise those skills/stats by defending against attacks."
Trevor Rage says, "If you have no weapon in hand and are set to parry, your highest
 unarmed skill is used."
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. now, I'm going to give you a brief overview of the attack
 skills.  The good and bad points of each.  You'll see that every skill has both good
 and bad points."
Trevor Rage says, "Archery - Examples: Bow, Crossbow"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Low load time, Good damage power, Ranged weapon."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Easily breakable, One shot load, Affected more adversely by
 wind."
Trevor Rage says, "Blunts - Examples: T-bar, Club, Staff"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Good damage, Excellent breakage power and durability."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Sometimes long roundtimes, Close range, Stamina draining."
Trevor Rage says, "Note: Stamina/Fatigue will not initially be part of combat.  It's
 being added later."
Trevor Rage says, "And when it is added, it's going to be more of a modifier than an
 obstacle.  I'm not a fan of people falling over every other step."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "Fencing - Example: Rapier, Broadsword, Katana"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Extremely versatile weaponry."
Trevor Rage says, "Unpredictable behavior, Close range."
Trevor Rage says, "This means.. a fencing foil does horribly low damage.  But, it has a
 roundtime of 3 seconds."
Trevor Rage says, "A claymore will shred throw enemies and armor alike.  It has high
 roundtimes and is two-handed."
Trevor Rage says, "Lot of versatility there."
Trevor Rage says, "Firearms - Example: Handgun, Rifle, Flamethrower"
Trevor Rage says, "Excellent damage, Extremely low roundtimes, Weapon shredder, Long
 range."
Trevor Rage says, "Weapon shredder meaning it tears up your opponent's weapons and
 armor pretty darn well."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Easily damaged by attacks, Long load times, Jam/Misfire."
Trevor Rage says, "Grappling:"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: High-damage, Prone to causing stuns, knockdowns and
 fatalities."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Very high roundtimes, Stamina draining, Requires high skill and
 strength, Close range."
Trevor Rage says, "Kicking:"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Special Engagement Methods, Good damage, Prone to causing
 stuns, knockdowns"
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Moderately high roundtimes, Some hard manuevers, Can be stamina
 draining"
Trevor Rage says, "Special engagement methods meaning you can get close with jump kick
 and flying kick."
Trevor Rage says, "Knife Fighting - Example: Dagger, Switchblade, Machete"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Usually low roundtimes, Decent fatality rates."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Somewhat low damage, Somewhat poor breakage capabilities, Close
 range."
Trevor Rage says, "Punching:"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Versatile attacks, well balanced damage vs. roundtimes."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Damage amounts can be slightly low, Close range."
Trevor Rage says, "Throwing:"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Very versatile attacks, Good strategy weapon, Prone to cause
 knockdowns, stuns."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Some roundtimes are high, Some attacks leave attacker
 vulnerable, Close range."
Trevor Rage says, "By vulnerable.. note that throwing attacks often leave the attacker
 prone.  Corner Drop a guy, you're both going to be on the ground."
Trevor Rage says, "Thrown Weapons - Example: Throwing Knife, Throwing Axe, Shuriken"
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Decent power, Fairly low roundtimes, Ranged attack."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Poorly suited for breakage, Possible weapon loss"
Trevor Rage says, "Weapon loss.. like if you lose your connection to the game and your
 throwing star is on the floor."
Trevor Rage says, "Not really a big deal if you get auto-retrieve added, which is
 pretty cheap."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. here's commentary on paired weapons."
Trevor Rage says, "Good: Instant doubling of damage output, Paired Weapons attack
 bonus"
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Roundtimes can leave attacker vulnerable, Extra skill to train,
 Not all weapons pairable."
Trevor Rage says, "The paired weapon attack bonus is this -- If you have two weapons in
 use and your opponent does not, you get a +15% added to your attack MOD."
Trevor Rage says, "A nifty little bonus there."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. a similar commentary on two-handed weapons.."
Trevor Rage says, "This would be like a huge axe or sword, a rifle, a staff, etc..
 things that require both hands to use."
Trevor Rage says, "'Good: Devastating damage power and breakage ability.  High fatality
 rate."
Trevor Rage says, "Bad: Very high roundtimes, Extra skill to train, Not all weapons are
 two-handed."
Trevor Rage says, "Two-Handers are the ultimate in dealing damage and snapping armor
 and weapons in half.  They also carry very long roundtimes that leave you open to
 attack."
Trevor Rage says, "A short comment on armor.. I mentioned medieval armor already so
 I'll not go into that anymore.. however.."
Trevor Rage says, "Here are your basic options for modern body armor.."
Trevor Rage says, "Basic: Low Weight, Protection and Breakage"
Trevor Rage says, "Strong: Moderate Weight, Protections and Breakage."
Trevor Rage says, "Heavy Duty: High Weight, Protection and Breakage"
Trevor Rage says, "Breakage meaning.. how likely this armor is to damage a weapon that
 hits it."
Trevor Rage says, "And, generally, how much of a beating it can take."
Trevor Rage says, "We also have 'Hazard Armors'.  These are tailored to special uses. 
 There is a Hazard Suit in the new armory stock I'll be releasing, which protects
 against burns, cold, electrical, disease etc.. really well, but provides only basic
 protection from slicing, blunt, etc."
Trevor Rage says, "That's a very special set of armor that most of us won't use
 usually."
Trevor Rage says, "I brought up the armory.. I think you'll all like it.  It has a
 total of 107 items on the menu."
Trevor Rage says, "Weapons of every time, ammo, armor, containers for weapons.  It also
 has services, such as adding auto-retrieve to a weapon, and basic weapon appraisal
 service for a fairly hefty fee."
Trevor Rage says, "It's pretty darn nice."
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. I'm almost ready for questions.. two more things on the agenda
 here.."
Trevor Rage says, "Paranormal combat."
Trevor Rage says, "There is one major change... Paranormal skills will no longer be
 factored into how well you attack.  Since you para types will be able to learn weapon
 skills as easily as everyone else, it's based on your weapon skill."
Trevor Rage says, "However.. para skills WILL continue to be used in factoring defense
 against things like drains, stuns.. other para attacks."
Trevor Rage says, "Addtionally, para-based attacks -may- be added.. it's in
 discussion.. I'm not promising anything on that.  We'll see."
Trevor Rage says, "The bonus para/focused weapons provides is still intact."
Trevor Rage says, "FOCUS SELF.. this is, as most of you know.. the non-para ability to
 focus yourself for attack/defense bonuses and reduced roundtimes."
Trevor Rage says, "This is currently based on Psychology and will be based on
 Humanities in the new skill system."
Trevor Rage says, "A planned change: FOCUS SELF will provide a percentage of roundtime
 reduction.. 10%, 20% or 30% instead of a flat 1-3 seconds."
Trevor Rage says, "Additionally.. the roundtime reduction will apply to all roundtimes
 in game, not just combat.  Doing a backflip, picking a lock, whatever."
Trevor Rage says, "Lastly on FOCUS SELF.. I am considering changing the penalty you
 receive during "downtime" when a focus wears off.  Instead of a flat -50, I may alter
 it to be -10 to -50 depending on how good the bonus was that focus self gave you in
 the first place.  I've not completely committed to that change yet."
Trevor Rage says, "Now.. last point.  Explosives.  GM Jackson Shepard is building our
 explosives systems.  He'd like your ideas on how explosives can integrate into combat. 
 Note: No tactical nukes strapped to your back tho, ok?  Please SUGGEST any ideas you
 have, for him to review and possibly use." 
Jackson Shepard smiles. 
Trevor Rage smiles. 
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. I'm done gabbing.  Time to get questions." 

Symposes Zelazny now has the floor. 

Symposes Zelazny says, "Hello..." 
Trevor Rage says, "Lo there." 
Trevor Rage smiles. 
Symposes Zelazny says, "My question is about the damage types..." 
Symposes Zelazny asks, "I know a knife would cause slicing, and blunt weapon would
 cause crushing. but how are implosion, and freezing caused?"
Symposes Zelazny says, "I asumme well get tazers...."
Trevor Rage says, "Implosion will likely be para based.  Freezing too, though other
 options may arise."
Trevor Rage says, "Tazers would be electrical based."
Symposes Zelazny asks, "with the new skills, would we be able to raise them all through
 use?"
Trevor Rage asks, "Can you raise all the skills through use, you mean?"
Symposes Zelazny says, "Yes, and stats(strenght, dex, etc etc.) also..."
Trevor Rage says, "Mostly.  All skills will be raisable with use, though a handful will
 likely not have uses immediately.  Most will and all will, given a bit more time."
Trevor Rage says, "The stats of agility, dexterity, strength, vitality can all be
 raised with use."
Symposes Zelazny asks, "Any idea when the system will take effect?"
Symposes Zelazny grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Mentality is based on your para skills.  As those rise, so does
 mentality."
Trevor Rage says, "Very soon.  I'm not giving a date, I'll let Siri do that."
Trevor Rage winks.
Trevor Rage says, "But, very soon."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Symposes Zelazny says, "Will teaching change? as in you can learn a skill halfway and
 not need to forget it to take a different skill..."
Trevor Rage asks, "Anything else?"
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "Teaching will change.."
Trevor Rage says, "You will be able to stop learning acrobatics, for example and
 immediately learn firearms then come back to acro later, if you want."
Symposes Zelazny smiles.
Trevor Rage says, "You will be able to teach more and more students according to your
 teaching skill, also."
Symposes Zelazny says, "Getting more like DR everyday... hehe"
Trevor Rage says, "And they will learn quicker according to that skill."
Trevor Rage says, "In some ways we're similar.  In some ways we're not remotely close. 
 I don't want to be DR, I want to be the best..which may include some DR like elements,
 plus some of our own new style elements."
Trevor Rage winks.
Trevor Rage asks, "Anyting else?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Symposes Zelazny says, "I guess that is all my questions... unless i come up with
 others before the end of the forum... if not ill email them..."
Trevor Rage grins.
Trevor Rage nods.
Symposes Zelazny sits down.
Trevor Rage says, "My box is always open."
Having finished, Symposes Zelazny takes a seat nearby.

Verna Delancey now has the floor.

Verna Delancey says, "Hello"
Trevor Rage exclaims, "Hello!"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Verna Delancey asks, "My question was if we don't get eye damage, do we need eye
 armor?"
Verna Delancey says, "I notice the helmet's sold dont' cover eyes."
Trevor Rage says, "No, you don't.  You can still be blinded, as in the case of stalker
 attacks.  You don't actually lose BP's or have to get eyes healed, tho."
Trevor Rage says, "No perp will swing his t-bar at your eye, however."
Trevor Rage grins.
Verna Delancey says, "Also, Does the healing injuries and bleeding mean we find
 antidotes or use a firstaid kit"
Trevor Rage says, "Healing injuries and bleeding are down with TEND and a first-aid
 kit."
Verna Delancey asks, "but not full healing?"
Trevor Rage says, "All healing except poison.  Currently, only the ER will heal
 poison."
Trevor Rage says, "At a later time, I expect antidotes to be available for healing
 poison."
Trevor Rage says, "BP damage can be healed with a kit and TEND, as in the past."
Verna Delancey asks, "With armor damage, will we have to appraise the armor or will we
 be able to look at it and see the damage?"
Trevor Rage says, "You'll appraise it, but there will be no skill check. I want
 everyone to have fair chance to keep their armor and weapons in shape."
Verna Delancey asks, "Is there any advantage to layering armor?"
Verna Delancey says, "I have a bodysuit and a jacket"
Trevor Rage says, "None.  You may be able to layer armor, but if you do, they will not
 provide double protection."
Trevor Rage says, "Any body parts that are overlapped will receive protection from only
 one of the armors you have on."
Verna Delancey says, "I'm confused"
Verna Delancey asks, "You said not advantage?"
Verna Delancey says, "er no I mean"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, let's say you have a BP vest, and a BP jacket."
Verna Delancey nods.
Trevor Rage says, "You can wear both, because they are worn in different 'slots'.. "
Trevor Rage says, "You take a shot to the back, which both would protect.  The combat
 system finds the armor that would help most and uses that one, ignoring the other."
Verna Delancey says, "Okay that makes sense."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Trevor Rage asks, "Anything else, Verna?"
Verna Delancey says, "No that's it for now."
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Thanks."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Having finished, Verna Delancey takes a seat nearby.

Alouis DeLaGlynn now has the floor.

Taylor Rinna raises her hand, noting she has a question.
Trevor Rage asks, "Alouis?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Alouis DeLaGlynn smiles.
Alouis DeLaGlynn asks, "How do these bleeding ranks and wound severites stack up
 against what we have now, for those of us thinking "I have x amount of first aid now,
 I can tend crits, I don't need more than that"?"
Trevor Rage says, "Basically.. how it works is that the more first aid you have, the
 better off you are.  Let's pretend you have 350 first aid and a critical (rank 7)
 injury."
Trevor Rage says, "I'm making up a figure, this isn't exact.. but 350 first aid might
 take the damage from rank 7 to rank 4.  Whereas 500 skill would take it from rank 7 to
 rank 0."
Trevor Rage says, "You will continue to receive benefits from FA training all the way
 to your 500th point."
Trevor Rage says, "Bleeding works in a similar fashion, as does BP healing."
Alouis DeLaGlynn asks, "Will be able to "stack" healing? Tend once ot bring it down,
 again to get rid of it entirely?"
Trevor Rage nods to Alouis DeLaGlynn.
Trevor Rage says, "Though, you may find that a rank 7 injury, for example, is just
 impossible to even touch, if your skill is fairly low."
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "Will all of the seperate hand to hand skills be needed for
 defense in addition to what you've told us? I'd really hate to find myself with
 massive amounts of evasion just to be put on my tookas by a thug because I don't have
 grapple."
Trevor Rage says, "You will be able to dodge a tackle with evasion, or even parry it
 away with a blade or other weapon.  Training each and every skill is not necessary
 unless you want to be able to attack with them all."
Alouis wipes the sweat from his brow.
Alouis DeLaGlynn asks, "Will you still be able to "kick" stalkers as we do now
 automatically if you don't train in kick?"
Trevor Rage nods to Alouis DeLaGlynn.
Trevor Rage says, "If you defend against the attack with a wide enough margin, yes."
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "Will two-handed weapon be a skill in of itself, or used in in
 conjunction with another, as a modifier. IE, will a shotgun take both firearms and two
 handed? If not, will you post a list of which weapons will go with which skills? "
Trevor Rage says, "It's a secondary skill that all two-handers need.  Basically.. let's
 say you have a rifle.. you have 200 firearms and 100 two-handed."
Trevor Rage says, "Your attack skill will be 150.  Average of the two skills."
Alouis DeLaGlynn nods.
Trevor Rage says, "However.. if your two-handed skill is higher than your weapon skill,
 it will be considered to be the same.. i.e. if you had 100 firearms and 200
 two-handed, you'd have a total skill of 100.. average of 100 and 100."
Trevor Rage asks, "Make sense?"
Alouis DeLaGlynn nods.
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Basically, try to have your weapon skill and your two-handed skill
 at the same level."
Trevor Rage says, "Same for Paired Weapons."
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "Well we know if our weapons before the switch? I've heard that
 staves are two handed. But some of the staves sold at Renfair say in the look
 description that they are shillaleghs, traditionally a one handed weapon..."
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "If they are 2 handed that is."
Trevor Rage says, "It will be case by case.  I have created a set of weapon templates,
 of which a basic staff is one.  It is two-handed. However, if what you have is in fact
 a shillelagh then I'd need to add a template for it to the system which would act
 differently than 'a staff'."
Trevor Rage says, "I have added as many templates as I could think of to the system,
 but I anticipate adding more.  It's not hard or time consuming to do so."
Alouis DeLaGlynn asks, "Do we need to ask for an assiste before we go through
 realloction to find out for sure, so as not to waste points or not take a needed
 skill?"
Trevor Rage says, "If you have doubts, yes, I need to see it to confirm whether or not
 it's what you think it is."
Alouis DeLaGlynn nods.
Trevor Rage is gonna be one even busier GM soon.
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Alouis DeLaGlynn asks, "And what about altered items. Such as a t-bar that was made a
 staff for Renfest. Will that be treated as a blunt, or as what it was made to look
 like?"
Alouis DeLaGlynn chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "The fact it used to be a t-bar is unimportant.  It's a staff now,
 and will inherit staff-like qualities."
Trevor Rage says, "And a typical staff is two-handed and uses blunt also, doing blunt
 damage."
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "Ok, thank you."
Trevor Rage nods to Alouis DeLaGlynn.
Trevor Rage asks, "Anything else?"
Alouis DeLaGlynn says, "I yield the floor."
Alouis DeLaGlynn grins.
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage nods.
Having finished, Alouis DeLaGlynn takes a seat nearby.

Matt Browne now has the floor.

Trevor Rage asks, "Matt?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Matt Browne says, "oh you skipped a few"
Matt Browne coughs.
Matt Browne says, "first question, you mentioned armor not exhibiting any offensive mod
 qualities"
Matt Browne says, "but.."
Matt Browne taps a pair of black leather steel-toed combat boots with reinforced heels.
Trevor Rage says, "Nope.. you were next according to the list."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Matt Browne asks, "these add +2 to the attack mod.. what will be the deal on that?"
Trevor Rage says, "I'm making an exception for a few items.  Footwear and handwear,
 specifically."
Matt Browne says, "i'm assuming these boots give you an attack bonus because they're
 designed for maneuvering"
Matt Browne nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Those would retain that attack bonus."
Matt Browne says, "i was thinking that.. a good pair of gloves or boots should surely
 help your combat abilities"
Matt Browne nods.
Trevor Rage nods.
Matt Browne says, "ok next.."
Matt Browne says, "money.. it sounds like its going to take a LOT longer to kill the
 average perp now.  this would lead to a massive deflation"
Matt Browne asks, "yet most things i'm assuming will remain the same price.. what's the
 situation on that?"
Trevor Rage says, "That really isn't safe to assume.. but money will be balanced if
 needed."
Matt Browne says, "the advance time sounds like the average amount of time it takes for
 some people to kill stalkers, so I was just concerned about that"
Trevor Rage says, "I do intend to slow the tempo of combat down some.  For one reason,
 all the incredible screen scroll as everyone attacks every 6 seconds."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Matt Browne says, "i'm used to it"
Matt Browne grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Well, unless you walk in with a shotgun and blow it away."
Matt Browne seems to agree!
Matt Browne says, "ok sounds good.. next.."
Trevor Rage says, "Or jump kick it and knock it to kingdom come."
Matt Browne asks, "can I hold a weapon in one hand and benefit from its offensive and
 defensive mods if i'm fighting unarmed?"
Trevor Rage says, "Defense yes, offense no."
Trevor Rage says, "Only if you attack with the weapon specifically, does it garner
 attack bonus."
Matt Browne asks, "and to go with that, will there be unarmed weapons? like will the
 knuckles we have now be able to add an offensive punching mod?"
Trevor Rage says, "Unarmed weapons are currently not in the list.. I don't know.  I've
 maded unarmed attacks quite powerful.. so I'm undecided on the wisdom of doing that..
 but it's a possibility."
Matt Browne nods.
Matt Browne asks, "so i can still hold onto a club or something for defense and use
 unarmed attacks normally?"
Trevor Rage says, "Yes.. if you are set to stance parry and defending against parryable
 attacks (i.e. no bullets, arrows etc.)"
Trevor Rage says, "You would defend with your blunt skill and dexterity."
Matt Browne says, "good deal.. i have one more question and another question Boo wanted
 me to ask since she had to go"
Trevor Rage nods.
Matt Browne asks, "you mentioned stats being able to be boosted, is this permanent?
 meaning everyone has the potential to have 100's across the board?"
Matt Browne snickers.
Trevor Rage says, "Stats atrophy.  If you do not keep yourself in shape, they slowly
 sink back down.  The higher the stat is, the more likely it is to atrophy."
Trevor Rage says, "Skills, however, do not atrophy."
Matt Browne asks, "do you have a minimum stat level? meaning if you start with 80
 strength, can you drop much lower than that?"
Trevor Rage says, "30 is the minimum."
Matt Browne says, "and lastly.. Boo wanted me to ask.."
Matt Browne says, "she was concerned with the RT.. is the advancement going to have a
 roundtime or is it like DR's advancement system"
Trevor Rage asks, "You mean, when you type ADVANCE <perp, do you have a roundtime
 added?"
Matt Browne nods to Trevor Rage.
Trevor Rage says, "Nope.  The only time you get a roundtime is on retreating.. and it's
 low.. I think max 4 sec."
Trevor Rage says, "You just can't swing your weapon until you finish advancing to
 them."
Matt Browne asks, "she was also wondering on a tangent.. will some things that you
 can't do during roundtime, since we're looking at higher roundtimes in general, like
 look or smile or simple emotes, be able to be done during RT?"
Matt Browne says, "if you can follow that"
Matt pants.
Trevor Rage says, "I do.  I'm not positive at this time."
Matt Browne nods.
Matt Browne says, "believe that's all on my mind for now"
Matt Browne smiles.
Trevor Rage smiles.
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Alright."
Having finished, Matt Browne takes a seat nearby.

Julie Green now has the floor.

Trevor Rage asks, "Julie?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Julie Green says, "Hello"
Julie Green says, "I was wondering more about the appraise skill"
Julie Green says, "You were talking about having weapons that had bonuses of up to +60"
Trevor Rage nods.
Julie Green says, "Will we be able to tell exactly what we have? And on armor too."
Julie Green asks, "For example, in Gemstone, as a bard, I can loresing to something and
 know exactly what the bonus stat on it is?"
Trevor Rage says, "You will be able to, but not until after reallocation.  The armory
 will tell you those bonuses for a fee."
Julie Green says, "So that won't be worked in as a player skill? We"
Julie Green asks, "We'll have to pay for it?"
Trevor Rage says, "I may add it to Appraise.  I'll look into it."
Julie Green nods.
Julie Green asks, "Also, will we be able to add to our own weapons and armor without a
 merchant? Something along the line of enchanting?"
Trevor Rage says, "It currently -does- tell you, but it gives a phrase, not a specific
 number.  I can't promise that it will change.  I'll look into it tho."
Julie Green nods to Trevor Rage.
Trevor Rage says, "Not sure.  Perhaps, but it's not on the table right now."
Julie Green nods to Trevor Rage.
Trevor Rage says, "Good question."
Trevor Rage grins.
Julie Green smiles at Trevor Rage.
Julie Green says, "Also, I wondered how long will take you to gain in a skill? 
 Like..."
Julie Green asks, "Would it take 100 hits or something to gain one point?"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, skills are measured in the form of XXX.XXX .. like 100.023
 would be 100 and 23 thousandths... you will gain a certain number of thousandths of a
 skill point with skill uses.. how many thousandths depends on whether you succeeded or
 failed in using the skill, and how high that skill is already."
Julie Green nods.
Julie Green asks, "Okay, so I'll have to gain so many thousanths before I go up in
 level?"
Trevor Rage says, "Instead of seeing 100.023, you'd see like: Acrobatics  100 (2%)"
Julie Green nods to Trevor Rage.
Trevor Rage says, "1000/1000 = 1 pt."
Trevor Rage says, "Or.. 100%"
Trevor Rage grins.
Julie Green says, "Oooh, I get it."
Julie Green slaps her forehead!
Julie Green says, "Sorry I'm asking so much..."
Julie Green says, "I'd also like to know how "levels" work"
Trevor Rage says, "As you do some flips, that % rises for acrobatics till it hits 100%,
 then you get a new point in acrobatics and it goes to 0% again."
Trevor Rage asks, "How do you mean?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Trevor Rage asks, "Player levels or levels in skill?"
Julie Green says, "Like right now, you can get a house or whatever at 50... "
Trevor Rage nods to Julie Green.
Trevor Rage says, "Right. That's a player level."
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "You will still get a house at 50."
Julie Green asks, "So how do you gain a player level?"
Julie Green asks, "same way? By notoriety?"
Trevor Rage says, "Notoriety.  As you use skills, hunt, whatever.. noto goes in the
 pool."
Trevor Rage says, "Each time you use a skill, you get pool noto."
Trevor Rage says, "Fishing, Cooking, whatever."
Julie Green says, "Any skill? Or just combat? "
Trevor Rage says, "Any skill."
Julie Green says, "OH! I kinda like that."
Trevor Rage grins.
Julie Green says, "No, I really like that."
Julie Green jumps into the air and gives Trevor Rage a triumphant high five.
Trevor Rage says, "I expect you all to have virtually ever-full noto pools."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Trevor Rage grins.
Julie Green giggles.
Jackson Shepard smiles.
Trevor Rage says, "It's a pretty neat approach.  We don't want you hunting unless
 that's what you want to do."
Julie Green asks, "Alright, so say I have a weapon or armor and it's altered, do I need
 to take it to town hall again to reregister it with the new stats?"
Julie Green says, "Altered meaning, you needed to make a change because the bonus was
 too high or the weight was too low."
Julie Green says, "After reallocation."
Julie Green says, "or even if you had a merchant alter it for more and paid 500k"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, it never hurts.. but I'm going to set it up so that any
 automatically converted weapons are auto-recorded too.. and if you come to me with a
 weapon that didn't convert on its own, I'll record it then also.  But, because GM's
 are humans and we do forget sometimes.. if your weapon is manually converted by a GM,
 it doesn't hurt to go record it."
Julie Green nods to Trevor Rage.
Trevor Rage says, "The recording process is not required.. but it sure helps.  That's
 the only 'blueprint' we have to make another weapon like it, if it gets lost. 
 Recording gives us a permanent record of exactly how that item is built."
Julie Green nods to Trevor Rage.
Julie Green says, "Thank you, Trevor."
Trevor Rage asks, "You bet.  Anything else?"
Trevor Rage smiles.
Julie Green says, "I'm sure, but I'm taking a lot of time, so I'll write to you."
Julie Green giggles.
Trevor Rage snickers.
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Thanks."
Having finished, Julie Green takes a seat nearby.

Vincent Euiena now has the floor.

Vincent Euiena takes a sip of his diet cola.
Trevor Rage says, "Lo, Vincent."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Vincent Euiena says, "Hey."
Vincent Euiena smiles.
Vincent Euiena says, "I've got a few questions, but they're pretty short."
Vincent Euiena says, "I'll try not to take too much time."
Trevor Rage nods.
Trevor Rage says, "No problem."
Trevor Rage smiles.
Vincent Euiena says, "First, I was curious about what you said about damage locations
 being removed."
Trevor Rage nods.
Vincent Euiena asks, "Is this just untill you feel it's important to bring back eyes
 and such?"
Vincent Euiena says, "Because I'm thinking by taking some of these out, you leave out
 the chance for someone to shoot a perp in the foot or punch one in the gut."
Trevor Rage says, "It's permanent unless some unforseen issue crops up.  Basically, we
 sacrificed some body locations to make room for more damage types and more damage
 severities."
Vincent Euiena snaps his fingers.
Vincent Euiena says, "Alright, guess we'll wait for that one."
Vincent Euiena smiles.
Vincent Euiena says, "Next question."
Trevor Rage says, "It was a resource consideration.  Now, if I wanted to say, make a
 FOOTSTOMP verb, I could.  I would stomp Joe Perp's foot and make him fall down or
 whatever.. it just wouldn't cause actual foot damage."
Vincent Euiena says, "When you said severity ranks adding up, you had me a little
 curious about something."
Vincent Euiena says, "Oh."
Vincent Euiena says, "Then come up with a "Shoot perp in the foot" one sometime."
Vincent Euiena smiles.
Trevor Rage grins.
Vincent Euiena asks, "But, about the severity ranks. Is that going to be alot like
 Gemstone does theirs?"
Vincent Euiena says, "Because now, when you get two minors, they don't become a sever."
Vincent Euiena says, "It sounds like in the new system we can't get nicked twice
 without it being a big deal."
Trevor Rage says, "Right.  Now they will.  If you get a rank 1, rank 3 and another rank
 3 on your left arm, that's a total of rank 7 you will have."
Vincent Euiena says, "By the way, I'm sorry if I ask something you already asked. A
 little while ago I froze up and missed almost everything after you pointed out the
 good side of having blunt weapons."
Trevor Rage says, "That's kinda true.  What this is going to do is force you to hunt
 your level.  The damage rank is determined by the difference in attack score first,
 the weapon second."
Trevor Rage nods.
Vincent Euiena asks, "Geeze. A bit much, isn't it?"
Vincent Euiena chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "Here's an example for ya..."

Trevor Rage slices a longsword at a street thug!
------------------------------------------------
Attacker:  Power = 542   Mod = 0%    Sum = 542
Defender:  Power = 143   Mod = 50%   Sum = 214
------------------------------------------------
Hit!  Difference = 328 
Trevor Rage lands a moderate hit to a street thug's left arm, as he fails to parry the
 attack with a claymore!

Trevor Rage says, "Fake attack.. just messaging."
Vincent Euiena nods.
Trevor Rage says, "Anyway.. moderate hit.  the difference was 328.  Had it been, say,
 100.. that may have been an insignificant.. or a slight."
Vincent Euiena says, "Alright. Hate to get nicked twice now, but I'm hopeful for
 changes one day."
Vincent Euiena chuckles.
Vincent Euiena says, "Next question."
Vincent Euiena asks, "What do you mean by "Implosion" as one of the "types" of
 attacks?"
Trevor Rage says, "If you are hunting your level and the weapon that hits you isn't
 some massive ray gun of vaporization.. you may end up with two ranks 1's.. which means
 a total of a rank 2 injury. Not the end of the world."
Vincent Euiena nods.
Trevor Rage says, "I mean, the damage system supports implosion damage to specific body
 areas, which would really only be possible via para means, short of you entering a
 vacuum such as in space or something."
Trevor Rage says, "I don't know when or how the damage type will be used.  The support
 exists for it, however."
Vincent Euiena says, "Oh, alright. I was wondering about explosions or something."
Vincent Euiena says, "Thought it was related in some way."
Trevor Rage says, "Explosions would likely burns and or slicing/piercing/blunt in the
 case of debris."
Vincent Euiena asks, "Maybe you'll add an "Explosive" part someday?"
Vincent Euiena shrugs.
Trevor Rage says, "Well, when a limb implodes, for example, it does in fact explode. 
 From the inside."
Vincent Euiena says, "Touche."
Vincent Euiena chuckles.
Trevor Rage says, "The damage would be basically the same, in terms of appearance.. the
 difference is in how the damage came to be."
Vincent Euiena nods.
Vincent Euiena says, "Next question...."
Trevor Rage says, "If we decide we wanna let paras use ESP to blow your limb up from
 the inside, well great.. the damage type already exists."
Trevor Rage winks.
Trevor Rage nods to Vincent Euiena.
Vincent Euiena chuckles.
Vincent Euiena says, "Awile ago you mentioned plate mail. Now I know if you want to
 hurt more wearing it than the perps you fight, that's fine for you. Of course, most of
 us won't touch it."
Vincent Euiena says, "But what about, I don't know....Para-miliraty advanced assault
 armor? Nothing they can't really make now."
Vincent Euiena asks, "Think that will ever be around?"
Vincent Euiena grins.
Trevor Rage says, "Well no, I didn't say it would do that.  I said it would encumber
 you (min 25% for full plate if not lightened) .. and lightning will cook you.. but it
 WILL protect you in a big, big, big way most other types of damage."
Trevor Rage says, "Might be."
Vincent Euiena says, "I think, if I remember right, island laws prohibit the use of
 full auto weapons like Uzi's."
Trevor Rage says, "Currently, yes.  Frankly, autos may happen.  Dunno tho."
Vincent Euiena says, "Right. I was just thinking you warned about plate, but
 modern-times plate could be shock-resistant and light."
Siri Macallan nods.
Vincent Euiena says, "Well, I figured if Uzi's are illegal, that kind of advanced
 military armor isn't all that legal either."
Trevor Rage says, "To a degree, yes.  Depending on what it's made of.. and that may
 happen."
Trevor Rage chuckles.
Vincent Euiena says, "What I ment by modern-times plate was the military armor."
Vincent Euiena says, "Sorry."
Trevor Rage says, "All I can say is.. re: laws and their affect on combat... Times
 change. Sometimes."
Vincent Euiena asks, "Next question. Mostly a mix of question and possible idea?"
Vincent Euiena asks, "Have you ever thought of using items in the room as objects in a
 fight? Like when you throw someone, they have a chance of landing on a table in the
 room, ergo, they hurt worse?
Siri Macallan asks, "Not meaning to be rude or pushy but we still have a fair whack of
 people on the list, and y'all have been here for over 3 hours.  If you have
 suggestions of things you want to see, those can be sent to feedback or Trevor, or
 placed on the BBS.  For now, can we stick to specific combat system related
 questions?"
Vincent Euiena says, "Right, I'll stick to plain questions. I'm about done."
Trevor Rage says, "That may happen, and it's a good idea Vincent.  Hadn't occurred to
 me really.  Thanks for the suggestion."
Vincent Euiena asks, "Alright, should I just put my last couple of qquestions on the
 table at once?"
Vincent Euiena says, "I don't mean to take alot of time, but they seem vital to the
 future of us all."
Trevor Rage says, "Sure.. fire away."
Vincent Euiena asks, "Will you sell armors like light patrol vest? Will tackle and
 throw still be unfined in the case of mercs Vs. Matthew men? And will there be future
 add-ons to weapons like sights and such?"
Trevor Rage says, "The armory will have armor in it, including a patrol vest I
 believe."
Vincent Euiena says, "Good."
Trevor Rage says, "Tackle / Throw will be fair game, as any combat is, in the case of
 Ghent vs. CMPD."
Trevor Rage says, "And add-ons to weapons.. possibly."
Vincent Euiena says, "If no layered clothes will help, that's all I've got for my
 defense."
Vincent Euiena says, "Yeah, cause I'd like maybe a laser sight on my automatic."
Trevor Rage says, "Nope, matter of fact, clothes will not help at all.. only armor. So,
 at least a light suit is good.  Heavier (modern) suits will also be available."
Vincent Euiena says, "Alright, thanks Trevor. I'll mail you the rest so these guys
 don't kill me."
Trevor Rage says, "Medieval armor will not be available in the Armory.. only modern,"
Trevor Rage says, "Look forward to it."
Having finished, Vincent Euiena takes a seat nearby.

Amanda Jackson now has the floor.

Amanda Jackson asks, "I'll keep it to this one question, will this whole change be a
 gradual process with different things implemented over time or just all boom! on one
 day? I'd prefer it to be slower, because it truthfully sounds like a ton of stuff to
 adjust to. And speaking of the boom day, do I dare ask if you have an estimate of how
 much longer it will be?"
Trevor Rage says, "All boom one day.  Welcome to Morada II."
Siri Macallan says, "Yeppers."
Siri Macallan says, "Soon.  Very, very soon."

Jackson Shepard says, "One of the few sequels that will surpass the original.
Amanda Jackson says, "oh well, i'll handle it"
Amanda Jackson asks, "what is very very soon??"
Trevor Rage says, "As far as combat, if you want to use the good ol' t-bar and just
 attack over and over, that is still as valid of an option as ever."
Siri Macallan says, "Consider it an early Christmas present."
Siri Macallan says, "That's all I'll say."
Trevor Rage says, "Oh hey.. I forgot to show those attacks to you.. I showed you guys
 one a minute ago when I talked to Vincent.."
Trevor Rage says, "Here's a corner drop example."
Trevor Rage cinches his arms around a street thug's shoulders and attempts to throw him
 down!
------------------------------------------------
Attacker:  Power = 135   Mod = 0%    Sum = 135
Defender:  Power = 69    Mod = 50%   Sum = 103
------------------------------------------------
Hit!  Difference = 32 
Trevor Rage lands an insignificant hit to a street thug's neck, as he fails to parry
 the attack with a claymore!
A street thug is knocked down!
Trevor Rage says, "Fun, fun.  Ok.. next person.."
Having finished, Amanda Jackson takes a seat nearby.

Sarah Ninesling now has the floor.

Sarah Ninesling asks, "will yeardleys fix our item to 100 percent "
Trevor Rage says, "Yes."
Siri Macallan says, "Fastest question on the planet."

Having finished, Sarah Ninesling takes a seat nearby.

Jess Whiterose now has the floor.

Jess Whiterose asks, "Will para type weapons have an in character place to go to get
 re-blessed or whatever? Or does their para specialty not get damaged?  Somehow I just
 don't see the Armory being able to repair that?  Or am I being too literal?"
Trevor Rage says, "The para quality of a weapon does not take damage.. only the weapon
 itself does."
Jess Whiterose asks, "Good, okay just one more, what happens with autoretrieve under
 the new system?"
Trevor Rage says, "There's no such thing as "I'm gonna hit you so hard I smack the para
 outta you!""
Trevor Rage says, "Works like it always did.  You throw, it comes back."
Jess Whiterose asks, "rt doesn't affect that then?"
Trevor Rage says, "Nope.  As soon as you toss it, it's back in your hand.  You're
 talented like that."
Jess Whiterose says, "Thanks, I will send the other questions which are more
 suggestions"
Having finished, Jess Whiterose takes a seat nearby.

Bryan Hit now has the floor.

Bryan Hit asks, "will there be places to maybe practice your skills? i'd love to see a
 place with test dummies to help us practice combat."
Trevor Rage says, "Yes.  I don't know when exactly, but a definite yes."
Bryan Hit says, "Good. i think with this new system, a little practice would be great"
Trevor Rage says, "I agree wholeheartedly."
Bryan Hit says, "I'm excited for it, though. a little nervous, too"
Trevor Rage asks, "Should be fun.  Anything else?"
Siri Macallan says, "That makes all of us, I think."
Bryan Hit says, "Nope. THat's all"
Having finished, Bryan Hit takes a seat nearby.

Veronica Loveing now has the floor.

Veronica Loveing asks, "is our combat system going to be typing intencive like DR or
 will it be more like GS  will I have to type my fingers to the bone?"
Trevor Rage says, "You will type about as much as you do now, except
 engaging/retreating."
Veronica Loveing says, "about paras"
Trevor Rage says, "You -may- use more commands in combat, but that's up to you."
Veronica Loveing says, "will they be able to hunt non para perps like other non para
 players or will they still be stuck in the caves"
Jackson Shepard says, "We can always have a Forum on Wizard Macros in the Future. If
 you have typing issues."
Veronica Loveing says, "when a para hunts non para perps now they are much weaker than
 non para players"
Trevor Rage says, "If you reallocate and/or train up your weapon skills, you will be
 just as good at fighting the non para stuff as anyone else."
Veronica Loveing says, "I sure do"
Trevor Rage says, "You just need to put points into your weapon skills and evasion etc
 if you wanna use those, that's all."
Veronica Loveing says, "but I will have an advantage with para perps"
Trevor Rage says, "Defensively, yes."
Siri Macallan says, "If you train in para skills, yes."
Veronica Loveing asks, "over non para players?"
Veronica Loveing says, "ok thank you very much"
Trevor Rage says, "If they have no para skills?  Yes."
Trevor Rage says, "While they are getting stunned or drained, you can beat it off with
 those para skills."
Trevor Rage says, "Not to mention using FOCUS on your weapon."
Veronica Loveing says, "great"
Trevor Rage asks, "Anything else?"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, you won't have to parry, jab, parry, jab, slice, slice,
 draw..."
Siri Macallan says, "That's why I like function keys and the up arrow."
Trevor Rage says, "You CAN use more commands in our new system if you want to, but you
 won't be obligated to.  Good ol' ATTACK, SHOOT and THROW work fine too."
Veronica Loveing exclaims, "great!"
Trevor Rage says, "Thanks, Veronica."

Having finished, Veronica Loveing takes a seat nearby.

Andrew Wigen now has the floor.

Andrew Wigen asks, "How does our current level of skill translate in the new system?"
Trevor Rage asks, "In terms of combat and fighting?"
Trevor Rage says, "Well, basically identical as of this latest perp balancing."
Trevor Rage says, "Each perp has 2.5 points of skill in every skill, per its level."
Trevor Rage says, "So, a level 20 thug has 20 x 2.5 = 50.. points of blunt, evasion,
 etc."
Andrew Wigen asks, "what about in terms of first aid?"
Andrew Wigen says, "i know alouis asked..."
Andrew Wigen says, "but the answer wasn't all that specific"
Trevor Rage says, "First Aid is very close to what it has been, in terms of
 requirements. Just remember that first aid WILL provide benefits all the way up to 500
 skill."
Trevor Rage says, "At 500 skill you can heal anything and do it quickly."
Andrew Wigen asks, "so roundtime will be affected by skill level in first aid?"
Trevor Rage says, "Yep.  It already is.. people just don't notice it much."
Trevor Rage says, "The higher your skill, the quicker you tend."
Andrew Wigen asks, "what about in stuff like climbing and in swimming? right now my
 skill level suffices to get around in most areas i want to move.  Will that change? Or
 will just the roundtime on each change?"
Siri Macallan says, "We'll talk more about skill to skill changes at the forum on the
 30th."
Trevor Rage says, "I'll just say in brief.."
Siri Macallan says, "And some strategies for how to pick what you want to allocate over
 to."
Trevor Rage says, "Having 500 pts in a skill is -never- a waste."
Trevor Rage asks, "Anything else, Andrew?"
Andrew Wigen says, "Not sure if you want to address this now or in the future"
Andrew Wigen says, "But..."
Andrew Wigen says, "Say i drop 500 into evasion, and the skills that pertain to my
 weapon of choice"
Trevor Rage says, "If it's combat and a question.. tonight."
Trevor Rage grins.
Andrew Wigen asks, "WIll that result in me being able to kill and be relatively safe
 from all classes of perps?"
Andrew Wigen says, "well, not paranorm"
Andrew Wigen says, "but all physical perps"
Trevor Rage says, "If you have 500 in evasion as well as 500 in all weapon skills
 pertaining to your weapon, you should be able to defeat any non para perp up to level
 200.  The only exception would be a few stray perps with special attacks.. like if one
 had a special attack that defended with acrobatics.  I expect those to be extremely
 rare."
Andrew Wigen says, "Okay"
Andrew Wigen says, "Have a comment/suggestion regarding those weapons you mentioned
 that were above the 60 limit"
Hope Fontaine leans on a huge sword of death and slaying.
Andrew Wigen asks, "Instead of choosing to either sell the entire weapon or reduce what
 you paid for, could you offer a partial compensation for the reduction in strength?"
Siri Macallan says, "That's problematic."
Trevor Rage says, "Currently isn't an option.. I don't foresee it happening either.. my
 take on it is this."
Siri Macallan says, "Because some people paid millions for say a +75, where as others
 only paid a few grand."
Siri Macallan asks, "Who would get what?"
Andrew Wigen says, "a percentage of the original price"
Trevor Rage says, "You have a weapon that should have never been made.  Is this your
 fault?  Of course it isn't.  However, I'll bet you my best dollar that you paid less
 for that whole weapon that it would cost for a +60 weapon in almost any case."
Andrew Wigen asks, "If you paid more?"
Trevor Rage says, "Additionally, you've been hunting with this super powered weapon or
 armor for months or years, making money that you couldn't have made without it.  I
 don't see how we can gauge that out."
Trevor Rage says, "To be honest, Andrew?  I've never seen anyone who paid more than
 today's prices for something over +60."
Siri Macallan says, "I'll think about it, Andrew, but right now, I'm not much for a
 partial refund for bringing something within the pale."
Andrew Wigen asks, "So the additional returns someone has garnered with an above the
 legal limit weapon is the compensation for having it reduced?"
Siri Macallan says, "No, of course not."
Trevor Rage says, "It's just one of several factors in deciding compensation.  The
 justification for having it reduced is game balance.. not how much money you made or
 didn't make."
Andrew Wigen asks, "Okay..for clarification...we will know if our weapon has to be
 reduced by you if it doesn't work when the "switch" is thrown, right?"
Trevor Rage says, "You'll know that it has been reduced and by how much.  A record of
 the reduction will also be kept."
Andrew Wigen asks, "err...how will we know it has to be reduced?"
Trevor Rage says, "And while not alll weapons will be 'auto-converted'.. the bonuses
 -can- be 100% auto-converted without GM intervention."
Trevor Rage says, "You will know via message to you, in game, when the weapon is
 changed."
Andrew Wigen asks, "One last one...will you give us a date in the future before it
 happens or will we just come in and be surprised?"
Trevor Rage says, "Either on logon or when you GET the weapon if it's in a container of
 some kind."
Siri Macallan asks, "For the items change?"
Andrew Wigen says, "for the new system"
Siri Macallan says, "Depends on if you're around when we announce."
Siri Macallan says, "If you're not, then you'll come in and be surprised."
Andrew Wigen says, "okay"
Siri Macallan says, "We will put a big news blurb up."
Siri Macallan says, "We'll also probably be dancing in the street."
Trevor Rage says, "I'll post it on my site too."
Andrew Wigen says, "thanks...thats it from me"
Siri Macallan says, "As a note about item conversion ..."
Trevor Rage says, "Thanks, Andrew."
Siri Macallan says, "+60 is the tops ANY item will be."
Siri Macallan says, "If you have one that's say +70 now, it will be reduced to +60, but
 that +60 is the creme de la creme."
Siri Macallan says, "No one will have a better item than you."
Siri Macallan says, "They may have the same, but that's the tops."
Trevor Rage says, "And a +60 attack/+60 defense weapon, for reference, is several
 million dollars.  No laughing matter."
Siri Macallan says, "Yep."
Siri Macallan says, "So reduction, if needed, is a very viable option."
Having finished, Andrew Wigen takes a seat nearby.

Ichiko Daiumi now has the floor.

Ichiko Daiumi asks, "Will there be an event or a plot associated with this changeover?"
Siri Macallan says, "It's straight system changes.  OOC stuff."
Trevor Rage says, "Yes, a huge party of players falling all over each other and
 exhausted GM's collapsing."
Ichiko Daiumi says, "I want to make sure I've booked a fishing charter for that day.."
Ichiko Daiumi says, "..so I won't be acutally on the island"
Trevor Rage asks, "Did you have more to add, Ichiko?"
Trevor Rage says, "Thanks, Ichiko."
Having finished, Ichiko Daiumi takes a seat nearby.
Siri Macallan says, "Before Andrew asks his question, I'd like to make a quickie
 announcement about the Modus event Calendar.  It's up and running, and you can access
 it from the Simutronics menu on the grey line of your Wizard."
Siri Macallan says, "Forums, events, etc will be listed there as well as in NEWS.  But
 for stuff at a glance, that's a good place to find it."
Siri Macallan says, "And that was it."
Trevor Rage says, "I think it's pretty cool."

Andrew Wigen now has the floor.

Andrew Wigen asks, "Sorry to be back up here...How static are the changes? I.e. Will
 the system be open to change depending on results once in the open? And if so how
 open?"
Trevor Rage asks, "Combat specifically or in general?"
Andrew Wigen says, "both"
Siri Macallan says, "If things don't work, we fix until they do."
Siri Macallan says, "There's room for improvement, tweaks, additions, etc."
Siri Macallan says, "That's the inherent flexiblity of this venue."
Siri Macallan says, "And that is done for all new systems we put in."
Trevor Rage says, "In terms of combat, I expect to do a lot of tweaks.  No testing in
 the world can account for unleashing something so huge like this on the masses, to
 break."
Andrew Wigen says, "thanks, thats it from me"
Having finished, Andrew Wigen takes a seat nearby.
Trevor Rage says, "Ok.. we're out of questions.. so, I'll make a final commentary then
 shut this thing down."
Trevor Rage says, "Firstly, I know a number of people are logging.. I encourage you to
 share it with others who couldn't make it.. I should have a log on my site very soon."
Trevor Rage says, "Secondly, if you think of questions, please email me.  I want
 everyone to have a chance to clear up anything they're confused on."
Trevor Rage says, "Lastly, thank you all for coming and sticking it out.  I knew this
 was going to be a very long forum when I started sketching out an outline of just the
 things I needed to say.  I hope you all received many answers and insights, and I hope
 you're all looking forward to it.  It's been a lot of work and planning.. and I hope
 it turns out to be as fun as we all want it to be.  I have a lot of faith in it and
 will continue to work on our combat systems to make sure they evolve into the most
 enjoyable experience possible."