Post:Tentative Magic 3.0 Spell List - 9/26/2010 - 15:17:26

Re: Tentative Magic 3.0 Spell List · on 9/26/2010 3:17:26 PM	7801
>>GMs have said countless times before that if you're smart you'll use stealth in the game to actually be sneaky and not let someone know you're there to begin with. If they know you're there they have access to AOE attacks which will nuke everything in the room, including you. Correct. It is entirely intentional that room-wide AoEs hit people that are hidden and invisible. If you do not want to be hit by an AoE, do not give the Warrior Mage a reason to douse the room with napalm. Regarding policy issues: first, I'd like to give a nod of appreication that the thread has taken the conservative approach here. Good stance for both the ethic and practical considerations of fair play. First, there is no intention to give Warrior Mages a "cast hidden" option, the three options Warrior Mage TM spells will have are: CAST (affects engaged only), CAST AREA (affects everybody except the caster), CAST CREATURES (affects all NPCs in the room, but no PCs). Some guilds will have fewer options than this; for example, all Necromancer AOEs will only allow CAST AREA functionality. Now, policy. What does it mean to wield a AOE attack for PvP? First, let's quote NEWS 5 24. "Area Effect -- There are a variety of processes in place that will affect everyone in a room when utilized -- not only spells, but Barbarian roars and Bardic enchantes. If you happen to walk into an area effect, you do NOT have consent against the person who is the source. If one is used for the EXPRESS INTENT of harming you and/or everyone in the room, then that CAN give consent against the caster/singer/roarer." If you launch an AoE in the room, you have the express intent of harming everyone in the room, and grant them all consent. Beyond this, there's a good question of "Is it PvP w/o consent to harm an innocent bystander?" The SGM ruling currently is that it is only a policy violation is you knowingly launch the AoE into an area with innocent people. And we define knowing by "if they are visible in the room." Launching an AoE attack into a room and accidentally hitting an innocent person in stealth is consent, but not against policy UNLESS UNDER INVESTIGATION WE DECIDE THAT WAS YOUR INTENT, IN WHICH CASE YOUR ASS IS GRASS FOR ATTEMPTING TO PLAY THE POLICY GAME. Caveat: this may change over the course of time, I am only stating what policy is now, as is being handed down to me from on high. It is the player's responsibility to keep up to date with the rules of the game, especially when they approach edge cases. Now, this does prevent (or seriously jeopardize) a Warrior Mage from using an AoE in a crowded area to smoke out hiders -- but that's intentional, too. You give up your finesse as part of the give and take of having the option to completely circumvent the stealth system and skip straight to the murdering. -Armifer
This message was originally posted in The Warrior Mages (35) \ Responses to GM/Official Announcements (2), by DR-ARMIFER on the play.net forums.