04-10-2003, 05:39 AM
Well, very interesting stuff on the ga/pierce "bug" from Isolde.
However, I think for the most part, absent such extraordinarily rare, welcome, and candid confessions from the game programmers regarding their "CM-lazyiness" ;) it's pretty hard to determine what was intended and what wasn't. And sometimes the stuff that wasn't intended actually works better than the stuff that was, so IMO one has every right to play the game the way it works, rather than trying to figure out what's a "bug" and what's "not a bug"; though of course everyone has their own standards about what "bug-exploits" are "cheesy", "not cheesy", or simply "cheating" (the latter -- like dupe bugs -- being non-negotiable).
On the specific topic of 1.09 LoD Bowazons, my main problem with GA is that it's obviously wrong that I can kill a mob of, say, half-a-dozen Blood Lords faster one-on-one with a lvl 1 GA than I can by hitting them with a lvl 20 strafe. Something is not right there. (The comment about client/server desync for missiles is interesting, because either GA pierces much more often than it seems to on the client, or one hit does much more damage than it's supposed to -- it's really hard to tell with both GA and strafe what's really going just by looking at the client side graphics, it's almost as bad as trying to get accurate info by reading your character screen. ;) )
I don't think GA is an super-overpowered skill though, even as it works now, at least with the non-uber equipment my zon's use (like GoldStrikeArch, Magewrath, or Kuko). In general, the problem with zon's is some of the overpowered equipment in LoD, not their skills. I don't know how 1.10 will resolve this issue -- I hope that standard characters using stuff they find themselves won't be crippled in an effort to balance the ubermenschen, or conversely the ubermenschen will not be overwelmingly uber because the standard characters are balanced, even if the game is made to be a real challenge for them, as I hope it will.
Fire arrow is another interesting case: I actually like the way fire arrow works now -- it's one of the few lvl 1 skills that retains its usefulness, but it's not overpowered since it is a purely one-one-one skill. The problem is with the nerfing of immolation arrow: why should a lvl 1 fire arrow outperform a lvl 20 immo vs PIs in almost any circumstance? (same story as GA vs. strafe)
PvP is another story -- the game is not supposed to be balanced for that, and people who like to duel will just have to set their own rules to make it reasonable.
However, I think for the most part, absent such extraordinarily rare, welcome, and candid confessions from the game programmers regarding their "CM-lazyiness" ;) it's pretty hard to determine what was intended and what wasn't. And sometimes the stuff that wasn't intended actually works better than the stuff that was, so IMO one has every right to play the game the way it works, rather than trying to figure out what's a "bug" and what's "not a bug"; though of course everyone has their own standards about what "bug-exploits" are "cheesy", "not cheesy", or simply "cheating" (the latter -- like dupe bugs -- being non-negotiable).
On the specific topic of 1.09 LoD Bowazons, my main problem with GA is that it's obviously wrong that I can kill a mob of, say, half-a-dozen Blood Lords faster one-on-one with a lvl 1 GA than I can by hitting them with a lvl 20 strafe. Something is not right there. (The comment about client/server desync for missiles is interesting, because either GA pierces much more often than it seems to on the client, or one hit does much more damage than it's supposed to -- it's really hard to tell with both GA and strafe what's really going just by looking at the client side graphics, it's almost as bad as trying to get accurate info by reading your character screen. ;) )
I don't think GA is an super-overpowered skill though, even as it works now, at least with the non-uber equipment my zon's use (like GoldStrikeArch, Magewrath, or Kuko). In general, the problem with zon's is some of the overpowered equipment in LoD, not their skills. I don't know how 1.10 will resolve this issue -- I hope that standard characters using stuff they find themselves won't be crippled in an effort to balance the ubermenschen, or conversely the ubermenschen will not be overwelmingly uber because the standard characters are balanced, even if the game is made to be a real challenge for them, as I hope it will.
Fire arrow is another interesting case: I actually like the way fire arrow works now -- it's one of the few lvl 1 skills that retains its usefulness, but it's not overpowered since it is a purely one-one-one skill. The problem is with the nerfing of immolation arrow: why should a lvl 1 fire arrow outperform a lvl 20 immo vs PIs in almost any circumstance? (same story as GA vs. strafe)
PvP is another story -- the game is not supposed to be balanced for that, and people who like to duel will just have to set their own rules to make it reasonable.