Not to be spell poor for the first 29 levels
Not to have that hill giant chase me from one side of the zone to the other side if I do not zone out
To not have to kill those annoying grey mobs that are feeling thier oats
To cast root or snare and find out my target has MY NAME
Isaya said:Not to be spell poor for the first 29 levels
Not to have that hill giant chase me from one side of the zone to the other side if I do not zone out
To not have to kill those annoying grey mobs that are feeling thier oats
To cast root or snare and find out my target has MY NAME
What *I* wish for:
To be spell poor for the first 29 levels, to fight and scrape and scrounge and have to make spending choices and have goals to work toward that improve my character without GIVING them to me
To have that hill giant chase me from one side of the zone to the other side if I do not zone out - I want to be scared s#!tless running nonstop wondering if I'll get away
To have to kill those annoying grey mobs that are feeling thier oats to feel like I am immersed everywhere I go
To cast root or snare and find out my target has MY NAME so I have repurcussions and have to pay attention or suffer the consequences
Isaya said:Not to be spell poor for the first 29 levels
Not to have that hill giant chase me from one side of the zone to the other side if I do not zone out
To not have to kill those annoying grey mobs that are feeling thier oats
To cast root or snare and find out my target has MY NAME
I couldnt disagree more. I want ALL of those things.
shihiro said: The only one that I would probably agree with not having is self-root/snare. I don't mind the rest, but this was definitely something I could live without.
I remember going on a epic raid to kill Faydedar and everyone would snare themselves to mitigate the effect of the "dragon roar" fear spell, so they wouldnt run in to the water. I remember PvPing enchanters and I would cast a low level stinging swarm spell on myself so I wouldnt be perma-mezzed. I would be sad if we werent able to cast on ourselves. There is great utility in it.
I do not mind not having stuff aggro you after a certain level. There is a difference between immersion and irritation. If stuff is no challenge to you, it should leave you be. Even wild animals generally ignore things that they feel are a more powerful to them unless they directly threaten them. If i am running past some gray orc, he should not run after me.
love this thread!
1. malediction that needs a certain amount of power to cure!
2. quicksand that will actually trap players and their companions will need to work together to get them out!
3. live vines that will ensnare players in dangerous jungles!
4. arrows that could hit more than one target pending if the first target is armored or not and if the player with the bow has a tremendous amount of skills and strenght that it would pierce the first body to hit the second one behind it!
5. maces weilders would actually dent their oponents armor!
6. City tournaments where players could enter winners could represent the city at a yearly tournament of all cities!
for example
best archer
best magic weilder
best swordsman
best lancer
best story teller! yes this one is for you bards!
7. be able to bring a mule with your bags along with you so you dont have to carry the stuff and be encumbred!
in same line
the mule would be subject to be robbed by thieves
or a small or big wagon pulled by a mule or horse or yourself if you have the strengh and endurance to pull it, subject to be robbed too hehe
having a way to camouflage your wagon in the wild if you have to enter a dungeon! poor mule he might be eaten by a wandering troll but those are the risks!
8. buy an urchin's service in a city to do your bidding! and yes there would be limits! i dont think any urchin would take that much money for your fouled minded people!
9. tavern brawls and i mean real brawls where people would just punch themselves to knocked out! of course you would need a trigger for it!
10. underwater encouters not only the bad ones but the good ones like family of whales or dolphins, but of course i want to see them badass sharks!
same line as underwater
cant wear heavy armor if you go in the water or any armor unless you have properties where it would not encumbred you're movements! This would make things interesting maybe even cloth armor could become important for underwater exploring!
11. i would love to have dummies where you can practice your skills on to bring them up other than using them on mobs in the world! Or atleast to a certain point where you would have to practice with npc's until you outgrow them and then the wilds it is!
12. baby sitters real cheap for when the game comes out :-P
i could go on but ill let others do their own inputs lol
Mmmm... wishes.
Client Performance > Visual Quality
Complete Ability Arsenal customization within a role, with appropriate caps.
Complete Gear customization within a role, with appropriate caps.
Continental search-for-selling & search-for-buying
The ability to hire & pay NPC's to do just about anything/everything.
Salvage, Repair, or Distillation required on all resources prior to use, selling, or crafting, via NPC or Player.
Personal loot, with appropriate drop rates.
Personal & procedurally located/generated harvesting/gathering nodes.
Temporary (yet persistent) player-triggered zone adjustments.
Locked encounters.
Repeatable 'sink' quests that provide buffs only, no xp, faction or other rewards of any kind.
Faction related; every NPC wants something, individually. (see buff quests above)
Group combos based entirely on players performing their role in a very small period of time.
Dynamic NPC stronghold camps.
Discernable resistances and weaknesses prior to combat, with knowledge, time & experience rewarded.
Character selection prior to login = one click from client launch to in-game.
Role-based buffs as persistent/permanent group auras with reasonable distances.
An extraordinarily detailed and parseable client-side logfile.
Target dummies in-game for single and group targets, solo & heroic versions.
---
I think that's about it, for now. :)
I am weird, I want things as close to real as possible. If you screw something up because you are rushing or make a mistake, so be it. If you root yourself and get killed because of it, you try not to next time or be more cautious.
I am an immersion junky though, so anything that keeps me on my toes a lot or no outside game influences are perfect by me...
My top wishes would be:
1. Slower leveling, I want a long journey, seeing every possible rock, shrub or tree...
2. I want several options to combat mobs and not just push one or two buttons for first 10 levels
3. Really cool spell casting / buff effects.
4. A map you can place notations or marks on
5. A simple yet effective chat system (whisper, reply back, party invite, trade) should all be simple and easy with today's technology
1. Agree on map notation, EQ1 did it right, even better would be in -game maps you can sell, and have maps for starting cities at the very least, for you to make your own map in game somehow, anyhow, maybe even "carbon copy" them to sell to other players. DDO was aweful to use, could not edit the map at all, it was an eyesore.
2. Ability to mentor down (and subsequent gimp or lack of abilities, spells, HP/armor stats, etc) so you can play with your friends. final fantasy 1 did it, Rift does it (though to the point where it's a power level thing). You could do the math in game if you're level 30 and your friend is level 5, you can mentor down / gimp your level so that your stats are divided by 6, and take off another 20 % (due to better higher gear just having better stats). it is an easy calculation, lock it if engaged in aggro in the same zone. Creating a new character then levelling it up to 10 or 15 just to play with your friend just plain ruins the fun. EQ1 = big, big fail on this. Shrouds is not the answer. they sucked hard, they sucked with committment, they sucked completely.
3. Extended target window like EQ1. and where you can change the extended window to show other players (for healers in raids), etc
4. Delegate main assist like EQ1 has now. it will make people want to play an enchanter / bard, there is some challenge / fun in trying to figure out which of the 6 incoming is going to be hit....but most people will fail on the fun on that. And Delegate main assist for raids.
5. Group window to show class and level, or at least a toggle for it. and a warning to the group when someone joins that will cause someone to not gain exp due to level gap.
6. Warriors and rogues to have more useful abilities than taunt, kick, and backstab / evade. Warriors SHOULD be able to cleave and taunt AE, seriously, since level 1.
7. Raid window like EQ1. colours for classes. yes. notes beside players handy to have too. nothing has ever been made simpler or more powerful before or since in any game.
8. groups of 8 possible. groups of 6 minimum. impose an xp penalty above 6 if you need to.
9. Voice chat option in game, and not broken ass like EQ1 is. it's so buggy, it's STILL not useable.
10. %t and group voice like EQ1 for pulling, run away, follow. even self recorded to share/ download with a group, limit it to like 3 second .wav or .mp3 file. allow say, 10 per person, that's 60 for a group, have it refresh over a standard set of file names locally to play back (can be easily unique for that session by player name ?)
11. Group ready check (with audible noise) and group vote kick (with audible words like "vote kick activated") (like RIFT). very important for fun and smoothness without reading thru a spam chat window.
12. regular weapon swings to NOT light up. it gets annoying fast. if a crit hit, or some special 15-30 second re-use timer abilty, that's fine.
13. group leader in group showing up with symbol or coloured text or something. Buggy as hell with EQ1 for over 10 years and it not being there.
14. Weak but if necessary , mercenaries. They saved EQ1 in the massive population decline. Maybe only tank / healer. maybe even make them suck 1.5x exp more than regular player. If you have 3 or 4 mages and melee dps........having a half-assed healer and half powered tank that's half as good as a regular tank or healer, the group won't 1. fall apart for sure because key person(s) left 2. won't wipe due to random linkdeath or emergency 3. If you're REALLY stuck, you can still play with a friend or 2, just not as effective, and you will gladly take a real player over your merc. EQ1 failed in that they made the clerics and tanks TOO GOOD, especially tier 5 journeyman.
When you are just learning the game, just a little bit of help can make the game go from sucky to a little bit of fun, with very fast realization that any player of the class of your merc is better than your merc.
3 people (light armor dps, mages, not healers or tanks) with 3 mercs should be able to do easy but slow exp fighting. And it's a good optional money sink.
15. Mage pets : water heals, fire nukes / ae nukes, earth roots / snares, air stuns, pets weild armor / weapons that make a difference. like any 1h or 2h will be better than bare fists.
16. NO RIGHT CLICKING = forced loot bodies, and no other way to loot a corpse. People who use right click for other reasons (like toggle mouselook) looting everything in sight ? NO.
YOU NEED to have a loot system OPTION at least where people can choose to be in on a roll Need / greed / never ask me again. EQ1 has this now. WoW had it since forever.
keep the /random ability in.
Will try to stick rigidly to 'Things I wish for'
1. Veeeery slow levelling up. At least 6-9 months for the average joe to make level 20. Even 3 months for the Nolan Sisters on a strict 24/7 rotation! Enough that 99% of players stop 'rushing to the end'.
2. Absolutely NO 'quick fix' for people to get rid of the 'downside' for their choice of race/class/deity. If, after warning at character creation, you chose a 'powerful' combination that had severe KOS/bad-faction as the balance for this, you cannot just spend 'a few days farming faction / quests' to get rid of it. Ogres smell bad .... and NO ammount of deoderant is going to change it that much!
3. Option to have some/all characters on my account considered part of 'my family' (think 'Borgias' or roman 'familius') where actions of the family have tangible effects on the 'family name'. Sort of 'micro-Guild' in terms of housing, faction adds, 'recognition' by NPC power structures from village->town->city-> rulers. Perhaps in-game marriage and progeny may generate a 'dynasty' ... probably need in-game lawyers too though for the divorces hehe!
4. Mages/Summoners to have some 'options' when it comes to pets. Not just the 'basic' elemetals, but perhaps 'versions' or alternatives for them. Rather than a 'bog-standard water pet' you may be able to find/research/quest/tame/befriend a naiad, instead of a 'bog-standard air pet' a sylph, pixie or form of genie (dependent on lore). Perhaps even a weak-ass healing pet in various forms. Ie more than just 'one cookie-cutter look' for the '4 pets' or however many there are. The could have slightly different stats/ability strengths dependent on which version you got/focused on? Swords and armour all look different and come in many many varieties, shapes and size ... 2-H, Long Sw, Rapier, 2 Daggers, Ace, half-plate, banded, chain .... can we not have *any* alternatives in Summoned pets?
5. NO automated group buttons. No 'anonymised vote to kick', NO 'press Need/Greed' buttons, NO 'auto-split of loots by NBG ruleset'. These KILL off socialising. These KILL the need for down-time. They breed greed ... the anonymous aspects letting people avoid taking responsibility for their reputations. I get that you want 'less hassle' to stop you 'farming mobs'. So please stop 'farming' mobs as an anonymous cog in the group machine and perhaps take part in your personal adventure.
6. Quests for quests sake. Small one, big ones, EPIC ones! All for the sake of doing them. All for the sake of a promise of money, promise of arcane magic, promise of saving a damsel (or a troll in a skirt if that floats your boat), promise of lost knowlege or just 'to help'. NOT for exp. Any exp from quests should be incidental... the real gain being represented by what you have done. Perhaps the cap on your 2-Handed skill rose 2 points from the quest. Perhaps you learned a new word of ancient Myr. Perhaps the max cap on Troll faction for you went up.
7. A stunning open world full of such depths and wonders that it is immediately obvious it would take more than a lifetime to experience it all! Enough that players will stay in markets and inns shooting the breeze with friends instead of 'trying to squeeze every second out of their on-line time killing stuff'. There is time to adventure, to explore, to do faction work, to craft, to be social.... not a theme-park tread-mill leading you by the nose from zone-1 to zone-2 .... all the way to zone-100 and end-game.
8. Real danger. Fear of death. Fear of getting lost. Fear of the unknown.
9. Summoners (or any class) having a choice of any weapon they like. Sure, use it. It may be hard to train in it. It may give you penalties from it's weight, your low strength, your lack of enough training. It may have sucky stats for your class. If you got it crafted, it may have decent stats for you. Your life, your choice.
10. 'Cat in my backback (TM)'.
Evoras, probably a Summoner
AWESOME POSTS!!!
I LOVE many of the ideas and suggestions here, guys! /SALUTE
"Not to be spell poor for the first 29 levels
Not to have that hill giant chase me from one side of the zone to the other side if I do not zone out
To not have to kill those annoying grey mobs that are feeling thier oats"
Plat was a HUGE problem IMO... I don't want EASY $, but come on... I spend 4 or 5 hours clearing the fields around Elftown and eagerly return to town smiling about all the great things I'm going to be able to purchase for a HARD and LONG days work... only to find that the cheapest spell is 20 x what I clear for all of my efforts... SERIOUSLY?!?! This was a HUGE downfall in EQ. Tons of you old timers who started before me will disagree I'm sure. I don't care. In any "world" people are going to have an income of some kind to go along with the expenses you don't mind adding to the game. I don't want FREE, but I also don't want to have to spend 3 days farming to pay for 1 hours' worth of REQUIRED ITEMS. Personally, spells - MOST SPELLS - shouldn't even be bought. You have a Magician's GUILD TRAINER in the beginning, right??? What's he there for if not to TEACH YOU all the BASIC and COMMON spells? I've seen many discussions about economy and $ in EQ and honestly most of the problems were created with a NON-REALISTIC world in the first place. If you are going to put REAL WORLD costs into the world, then you have to also put REAL WORLD INCOME into the world. Coin should be for upkeep. Water. Food. Bags. Lumber to build my house with. Not spells. Not training at the Paladin Guild. Disagree if you will but EQ's economy was IMO unbalanced from the very get go. Income should not outpace "life" either. BALANCE... that encourages earning MORE income for extra stuff. EQ FORCED people to spend HOURS and sometimes DAYS depending on your RL schedule to buy a handful of NECESSARY items or spells. I want challenge and I want to be driven to excel, but this is just not realistic. And IF you must make it like this then give us an income machine. Put "jobs" in the game. EQ never had anything like that. If you were unguilded or in a tiny little "family" guild that was not active and played at an off hour when there were few groups to join... you "starved" and eventually just logged out. Eventually quit... :(
(sorry for being so windy but this has been a huge peeve of mine for 15 years... EVERYONE can't play 12 hours a day like you hardcore gamers used to do... I for one can play 2-4 hours on a daily basis and sometimes only once or twice in a week and 6 - 10 on weekend days if there's nothing else going on. i'm going to guess that this will be the case for MOST players now days. we've all grown up. we have jobs now. homes or apartments. insurance. rent. groceries. you guys with $5000 rigs... they can't "pay the bills" designing a game just for you guys) ... (the Titanic is known for the rich who were aboard. it was the nameless, faceless STEERAGE that PAYED THE BILLS, not the rich folks. it's the nameless, faceless MASSES in MMOs that PAY THE BILLS... not the TOP 5 or 10% who raid hardcore. sorry but this is a FACT)
Agro... EQ stopped having mobs chase you endlessly some years ago. They will chase you until you've put x amount of distance between you and them or until you zone or cross some seen or unseen "red line" on the map. I think the agro in EQ is fine now. Trains would probably chase until they became winded, actually, so... better find the zone! lol One or 2 mobs... you should be able to run off agro IMO... Unless they are Named or special in some way.
Gray mobs... come on... they should RUN FROM ME, shouldn't they??? And sometimes bring a train of bigger mobs back? This leads to BIG issues I know. I know... but green and gray mobs chasing me EVERY TIME I zone into Undead zone 127 is just NOT realistic. After I slay them for the 14th time they should LEARN. THEY should hide, not me.
...
Beez- quicksand, living vines, tournaments/ground, armor damage, mules.... good stuff :) ... don't forget the squire... he'll look after your mule while you go into the dungeon. i've wondered for YEARS why EQ hasn't put a squire of some sort ingame. we're Legendary Heroes and Knights and Lords and Ladies... wouldn't we have hirelings to watch our War Steed?
vjek- hire & pay NPC's to do just about anything/everything, Temporary (yet persistent) player-triggered zone adjustments, every NPC wants something... individually, Dynamic NPC stronghold camps, one click from client launch to in-game YES!!, detailed and parseable client-side logfile... GOOD STUFF! :)
Pyye- I am weird, I want things as close to real as possible AMEN!!, Slower leveling, I want a long journey COULD NOT AGREE MORE!!, A map you can place notations or marks on.. /nodding :)
Euther- Ability to mentor down (and subsequent gimp or lack of abilities, spells, HP/armor stats, etc) so you can play with your friends. YES!!! Vanguard had a fix for this if iirc... never got to use it. Or maybe it was LotRO?
Extended target window like EQ1, Delegate main assist like EQ1 has now, groups of 8 possible. groups of 6 minimum. impose an xp penalty above 6 if you need to I LIKE THIS - how many times have we turned friends away because the group was full already? :(
Voice chat option in game, and not broken ass like EQ1 is... GOOD STUFF :) ... I'm guessing this will be ingame at launch tho.. this is simple stuff now days
Weak but if necessary , mercenaries ... Hrmmm... I see the NEED but not sure how this will go over with Brad and many others. You did touch bases tho... make them WEAKER... NEVER perfered to a PLAYER... I can see this ingame. Many will disagree but there have ALWAYS been players that play at odd times or are in itty bitty family guilds that just can't find a group and are forced to reorganize their bank bags or farm green mobs to make Sourdough Bread with... who wants to do that ALL THE TIME? :( .. I can even see there being 10 war mercs available server wide... as warriors come online and are LFG, those mercs disappear. and as you said they are ALWAYS rookies... never highly skilled veterans. Only EVER just able to fill the position and not real good at it. An NPC version of a PC you would kick from the group if you had the option but capable enough to tank or heal one mob encounter at a time. Probably won't fly but I personally see the need 100%... "When you are just learning the game, just a little bit of help can make the game go from sucky to a little bit of fun, with very fast realization that any player of the class of your merc is better than your merc" AGREED! I am thinking this should be offset by server population/LFG toons... Not a replacement for Players... a STOPGAP to keep you from logging out when there just are no groups for you to join /nodding
Evoras- Veeeery slow levelling up. At least 6-9 months for the average joe to make level 20 AT LEAST! :) ... Option to have some/all characters on my account considered part of 'my family'... INTERESTING :) ... NO automated group buttons... agreed mostly but loot DOES become burdensome. Auto-looting IS a nice option after a while ... Quests for quests sake AMEN!!!
A stunning open world full of such depths and wonders that it is immediately obvious it would take more than a lifetime to experience it all! Enough that players will stay in markets and inns shooting the breeze with friends instead of 'trying to squeeze every second out of their on-line time killing stuff'. There is time to adventure, to explore, to do faction work, to craft, to be social.... not a theme-park tread-mill leading you by the nose from zone-1 to zone-2 .... all the way to zone-100 and end-game. THANK YOU!!! THIS is... IMMERSION! I read long ago that Vanguard - back before they had to cut costs and such - was huge. One of the 3 continents was a scaled landmass the size of Montana. Brad and others here know way more about it than I do but I'm pretty sure I read that. Can you imagine? Montana! You could NEVER explore ALL OF IT! Your whole Guild would never explore every single acre of it. There would FOREVER be ore deposits untouched. Rare trees in deep woods NEVER DISCOVERED. Diamond and gold deposits NEVER FOUND. Caves that would make PERFECT personal dwellings/hideouts and NOBODY WOULD EVER FIND THEM! THAT puts a smile on my face :)
... I think This speaks perfectly to what you're talking about. I want a world we can literally get LOST in... literally. Be forced to explore our way out. And possibly... even frequently... summon a corpse and start all over. Falling off a cliff in the dark. Killed by a party of orcs tracking us from behind. I know this type of environment is perhaps not possible from the programming side, but I very much feel your imagination. I feel the same way. SWEET IDEAS Of course, Sigil had to hugely downsize the world in order to launch, but man... Vanguard had nearly LIMITLESS POTENTIAL early on from what I've read
Real danger. Fear of death. Fear of getting lost. Fear of the unknown... Death Penalty :) No downloadable maps. Not early on anyway. Mapping will become a reality and it SHOULD BE. But not for a good long while! I'm confident that VR's quest for cooperative gameplay is going to bring back what so many of us experienced in EQ long ago... :)
Summoners (or any class) having a choice of any weapon they like... I can agree with this. I've NEVER understood WHY a Paladin couldn't LEARN to dual wield?! lol Makes no sense. And at the same time... I get it if they just wanna say.... JUST 'CAUSE. It's part of a Class system. And we may just have to DEAL WITH IT. And yet... it would be nice if i could pick up a ... 2 hander when I'm a ranger and USE IT... as you're saying, with consequences, but I should be able to EQUIP ANYTHING at any time IMO. Plus this paves the way for awesome class evolution down the road I think. NOT suggesting One Class Does it All... NEVER! But forked paths of progression down the road ;)
I've just LOVED reading all of your posts, Guys! Awesome imaginations and suggestions! 8D
Again.... sorry for being so WINDY lol
Mentoring is hindrance to a greater, serverwide community for all of the reasons we've discussed in the past. If it should be done at all, it must be implemented both cautiously (less power) and sparingly (limited levels).
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/3215/matchmaking/view/post_id/49116
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/3217/this-sounds-a-bit-wo-w-ish/view/post_id/49327
Mercenaries make every player a pet class. They break down the interdependence between players, and thus the community and need for a good reputation.
1. I don't want to be spell/ability poor for the first 29 levels, I want it the entire game. It should not be rediculous but come on, you should have to work for things.
2. I want to have to go out and find my trainer/merchant of abilities and spells. Eventually they end up on some website, but who cares, at least you still have to go wherever to get them. If I have anymore spells just show up in my book as I level I think I will throw up.
3. I want to suck, I mean royally suck at everything when I first enter the wilderness. Your level 1, there is no reason you should know how to cast a spell or swing a sword, practice, learn and get better at it.
4. Languages, I want to completely dork it up and sit around learning Gnomish or whatever.
5. Execution of any developer who thinks quests should start with a big floating "!" or end with with an equally large "?". Go talk to an NPC and see if he/she has a quest!!!
6. Maps that allow notation. I am cool with how maps worked in EQ (Fog, until you explore) or even the idea that you could possibly buy a map from a merchant that already has the land defined for you, but short of maps marking say the name of a town, there should be other information. But, if I am smart enough to read a map I should be able to add notes to my own map, where to farm herbs, kill orcs, etc.
7. Communication tools that are a good enough that voice chat is "NOT" required!! I hate wearing a headset to play or listening to everyone talk, should be optional.
8. REAL GMs!!!! I want to see a GM log in and help someone or even socialize again, loved that in early MMO gaming.
9. GM Events. Give me a GM spawned mob here and there, drunken runs through Kelethin, fishing tournaments, GM arranged arena events, run across the Karanas, etc, etc. Some events may of seemed stupid at the time, but they really added that much more to those games.
10. Most of all, give me a Panthoen team that is willing to say "NO" to players and not cave to every sniffle and whine which ultimately destroys the MMORPGs we love.
The game has its own tenents and those are that, with which, you have to deal. This "dealing" is: yes, spells are dear, and often one cannot get a full complement- and so it is assumed the game is teaching you or molding you in some unforseen way (invisible hands) to work with what you have. It is that, with which, you have to deal as it is a personal thing. You may feel you are at fault because another in the same class and roughly the same time on game leveled faster that you, but it is not something with which to speak out on, but rather, retain inside (like the Robin Williams character direction in, "the Bird Cage") and it is that, with which, you have to deal
The mage "training" (invisible hands?) I thought was good, the most powerful elemental you had was when it was new- and then of a different type making you learn what it could do, and this elemental then became 4 levels lower than you, before you coud get the next, current elemental- of a different element and with different abilities with which you had ot learn where it was most effective and this was that, with which you had to deal.. The sporadic randomness and danger of the fire elemental "levels" trained the mage to cast like a wizard as the elemental was not used that much because of its dangerous randomness, However, in constant, multiple, pulls in Karnors castlle with a tight group, then the fire elemental was observed to be indispensible in the extra DPS and the rooms were clear and we actually had time, to med. Target after target going down in rapid succession.
And mage then learning more meditation possibly on boat trips- thereby gaining a secret and unwritten but discovered advantage to all others ubneknownst to all except at level 50 when the necro would wonder why his twitching to this particluar mage- provided NO perceivable mana boost- somewhat like the benefit to alchohol tolerance. Who needs KEI when I have booze, yes there was a limitation but an understood and learned through observation. If one did not observe one did not learn and it was that (lack of observation) with which, one dealt. Or perhaps learned through time or the exchange of information with or from whom you were mentored and from which you then you mentored others freely. For as it was freely given to you so you freely offered.
Said I to the mage who said "I was told that I should make a hot button that says " I AM HIT I AM HIT" and run around to let the group know if I get hit". Said I to the mage, no, and then who told you that? for that is not done. If you get aggro accidentally and cannot shake it off. The group will know without you telling them as they will see it in your health bar steadily going down. As the caster you are not crucial.
You then move way to the side in the hopes that when you die, the group will have enough time in the time it takes for the monster to runback after you die, to regain control over the situaiton- especialy if you have a chanter. Then you say nothing, and wait untill they say something to you. In the meantime you start running back- naked- to that spot should you need to get your corpse that the group may be protecting while they deal with the monsters. You coming back early and suprisingly will be a benefit to your chacacter- if the cleric can rez they can rez whenever there is a lull but you do not ask, you wait. OR in the case when the group wiped so you would be half way back to possibly help drag corpses if invis holds OR wait until the rez is offered, OR they tell you where they dragged your corpse. Untill then you say nothing, but DO all those things. and it is that, with which one deals and how they deal with it.
one level every 6-9 months, yes that sounds about right- not at the early levels as discussed- for the sake of providing small successes- confidence boosters if you will. But later on, when it is assumed you know at least some of that, with which you have to deal.
(oh dear I hope I dont have to start creating decoder rings)