Post:A Spell is A Spell - 11/17/2009 - 16:13:58

Re: A Spell is A Spell · on 11/17/2009 4:13:58 PM	11186
>>I'm genuinely curious on how you see this. For example I can see it being like the difference between getting a BA in a field and getting a PhD. Would it be something along those lines? I use an entirely different image, which I think of as core behavior and guild specialization. At the level of core behavior, I agree entirely with "a spell is a spell," -- in fact, I'm the one that instituted it. Lacking any other factor, a Ranger's TM spell should work like a Moon Mage's TM spell. In both cases we're discussing guilds that don't have any reason to care about TM as a concept, beyond its use as a magical tool. I do believe, however, there is a level of specialization that also needs to apply to the guilds, which prevents us from wholly collapsing the spellbooks into a single buffet line. At the most basic level, this is done with signature spells: a break in "spell is spell" is saying that only Clerics get to resurrect the dead. There's no great balancing decision that goes into that, simply the acknowledgment that that is one guild-level way to differentiate what Cleric spells do compared to any other caster in the game. More contentious but still valid in my interpretation is applying this to non-signature spells. I have carefully never used Warrior Mages in my examples of Ranger or Paladin TM because for the Warrior Mages, TM is their Thing. At the level of distinguishing why Warrior Mages are Warrior Mages and not Moon Mages or Bards, Warrior Mages should explore TMness in ways Rangers won't. The same can (but in some cases do not) be expressed for all guilds. Mental Blast is the king among disablers because that's something Moon Mages are supposed to do better than anyone else. Benediction is the biggest stat boosting spell in the game because that's how Clerics roll, and so on. How much we should emphasize this specialization is a matter of constant adjustment and debate, but I don't think we actually want to play a game (or, at least, the six guilds that focus pretty heavily on magic) where it stops existing. -Armifer
This message was originally posted in Abilities, Skills and Magic (4) \ Magic - Suggestions, Discussions and Thoughts (16), by DR-ARMIFER on the play.net forums.