Posted by The Angel Gabriel on September 08, 1999 at 01:11:53:
In Reply to: (flashing neon)The Emperor's Powers(/flashing neon) posted by The Ponderer(VIP) on September 07, 1999 at 22:55:41:
Which was totally unnecessary. Ever hear of roleplay? The proper response to a perceived lack of roleplay by citizens and sectleaders, and that is what you speak of, lack of proper roleplaying of ambition, powerhungriness, etc, the answer is not to give even more power to those that have it. Empire powers, particularly when used in concert as they most often are, are unbelievably good. Black shroud alone is far more powerful than people think, let alone all the other powers. Empire has show itself to be perfectly capable of dominating the mud, and to have very powerful abilities. The solution to a lack of proper roleplaying within it, then, is not to give even more institutionalized powers to its leaders. When knights didn't properly play their role, they were disbanded, not given greater power. Perhaps the common thread here is a lurch to an extreme. Either get rid of them totally, as was done withknights, or give even more powers, and not just trivial powers either, to those that are already almost too powerful. The mud has become, if you will pardon a loose metaphor, very much like the cold war. The concept of balance of power is spoken of, but not really ever achieved. The laudable goal of coming up with new and interesting things has overtaken the responsible levels of power given certain people and things. Every class when introduced has been over powered, and after a few months, generally after certain people have been allowed to abuse the powers that only those "in the know" would know of right from the start, and once they have had their fun, the classes are toned down. This is generally due to the natural exuberance of making a new thing and wanting it to be cool/fun. Unfortunately, the basic belief has been that to balance, you give more to the other side, when it comes to game play. As I said, it is reminiscent of the cold war where each side had to keep building its arsenal to maintain a balance of power. But this never really resulted in balance, or better lives/world. Instead, it just made things more dangerous, and in terms of the game, it just makes things more one sided in general. If you give great power to people, then when they fight those who are not ready, the fight is quick and boring. If both sides are less endowed, then they are less likely to need to counter so much, and can just actually fight. Empire did not need more power. That's the bottom line. > The Imperial Sect leaders have all been given special powers so that people have a reason to try and strive for the position rather than stagnating as a lowly citizen and showing zero ambition. > The Emperor has been given all four of the special sect leader powers so that the sect leaders have a reason to try and strive for the position rather than stagnating as a sect leader and showing zero ambition. > Kinetic Shield is an Arcane Sect leader power.