11-02-2003, 12:37 AM
Quote:The true spirit for variants is to have fun.
That's probably the best way to summarize it. :)
Quote:I personally have always felt that too many people moved into variants too quickly. They would play through the game once or twice and then hear of a variant and rush out to try it. I always felt that one should wait until they had played all three classes through most of the game before starting variants characters.
I've not really thought of it in terms of how many people move on to variants and whether it's right for them. But I agree with when people should make the move. Before trying a variant the player should be proficient in the class. Effectively playing many variants requires an intimate knowledge of how the game and the base character class works. Nowdays that probably implies quite a deal more than when many of variants were first written, but imagine...
...playing a BAR without knowing how the Warrior benefits from his statistics. Talk about frustration. Imagine a poor soul hoping to weather the storm of Normal Hell by pumping just Vit and Str. Ouch.
...playing any variant without being familiar with the different shrines. BNMs turn into bejeweled NMs without Religious Shrines. LoLs are in the same boat, not to mention the value of Eldritch Shrines. Exorcist just wouldn't make sense without knowing about FOS Shrines.
...playing one of Charis' boss-hunter variants without knowing bosses always appear on certain dlvls. (And having a list of bosses and their dlvls handy.)
...playing a Demoniac without knowing the significance of CC and BloodSlayer. hehe
...playing an ARC without realizing Resistance Bows are a viable alternative to straight-up Damage bows. Or worse: *any* Rogue without knowing Rogues really don't need ToHit bows.
...playing a SNOB without knowledge of what unique items are available. Unique item rarity is valuable information when it comes to planning B-day presents. (Imagine the chagrin of a SNOB who forgoes a CR B-day present in hopes of finding one during Laz runs.)
There're just so many "General Knowledge" sorts of things players need to know. But as long as they have that knowledge, they're in pretty good shape. If their skill is lax (or rusty) that's overcome through playing anyway.
[o: *LEMMING* :o]