Afflictive Module: Introduction.

[Burzuk]

Yes, you read that right. A new change module.


THE CHANGE MODULE SYSTEM

Most of you remember that were it not for Davairus and Eldorian convincing me to begin incrementally implementing some of the changes instead of waiting until I had everything "done" the way I wanted to, we wouldn't have had the changes from Combat Module A and B at all. (You guys would probably wait 10 years only to log in to a completely and unrecognizably changed AR.) The compromise solution, wherein these changes are implemented in discrete "change modules", allows us to concentrate on balancing and implementating changes within specific focuses. Some of you have forgotten about this, and said some patently ridiculous things like "Burzuk loves warriors and hates class X, that's why all the changes have been for warriors and not for my class" without considering that the first two change modules were focused on combat. In retrospect I still believe this was the right choice, given how fundamental many of the changes in Combat Modules A and B are to all classes, as well as how lackluster the warrior and berserker classes were before the two Combat Modules. You may agree, you may disagree, but now that we're moving to the Afflictive Module, wait for a few waves of changes until the inevitable "Burzuk loves invokers and hates class X, that's why all the changes have been for invokers and not for my class" complaint comes along. Then, point and laugh.


THE AFFLICTIVE MODULE

Invokers? Well, what other class did you expect from "Afflictive Module"? But if you look closely, every single spellcaster class (i.e. all mages and all clerics) use afflictive spells to varying degrees, as well as both fighter-hybrids (paladins and dark-knights) and even rogues (bards and ninjas). More importantly, afflictive spells and afflictive saves are major concerns for all classes. Therefore, for this new change module you can expect that the new skills and changes to be focused mainly around the invoker class, but there will be changes to all spellcasters to a lesser extent, and there will also be non-skills changes that everyone will need to pay close attention to if they don't want to get smeared by that uber l33t super-hellstream I'm hiding up my sleeves.

Afflictive spells and afflictive saves are just one small part of Afflictive Module though. The main goals of Afflictive Module involves examining all forms of direct magical damage, which will also require paying attention to two important related topics: damage multipliers (most notably, resistances, vulnerabilities, and protective spells) and damage restorers (i.e. healing spells). We will be starting with these side topics before we make our main thrust into the heart of afflictives-land, so if you see your current class located anywhere in this territory, be prepared for some upcoming changes that you may or may not like.

Also, there are many large-scale changes being planned for Afflictive Module. One example that I can give now is specialization paths: invokers will be the first AR class to feature specializations within the class itself, though there are many more planned for the future. There are other large feature-additions in the blueprints for this module as well, so if you're sick of seeing "tweaks" and "enhancements" and are champing at the bit for "new new new new!", then you're going to like seeing some of the big announcements when we get later into Afflictive Module.

A rather obvious piece of advice: if you're currently playing an invoker character, I suggest you save up plenty of extra practice sessions.


WHAT'S NEXT?

It's evident when looking at the types of questions we're asked, the types of suggestions we've received, and the types of assumptions that we've noticed: many of you do not have a strong sense of where these changes are headed, or what's coming up on the road ahead. This is why I've taken the time now to outline the goals and expectations of the Afflictive Module so that you can anticipate what sorts of changes are coming up. Also on a more fun note, I've also opened up a poll for you to vote on which of two planned change modules the Imm staff should tackle after we're done with Afflictive Module. I'll give you a hint: it won't be Combat Module C. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we could use a nice break before finishing that one up. We'll see when is a good time to for us to work on the stuff in that module, such as mounted combat and warrior customizations. For now, you can vote on the next change module at this thread:

http://abandonedrealms.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=27192