Flipz

Exactly. Let me point out that we're getting up in arms about something that affects about six people. For the rest of us? Nothing broken here, let's move on.

The entire problem in a nutshell. If it's SUCH a problem, remove Nostrums from the market, wait for the "haves" to use up their existing stock, and then re-introduce them (or just outright delete all Nostrums from the game, refunding them for Gold). Or else, stop punishing EVERYONE because of the "haves" having things. Or, alternatively, stop taking the people who buff-stack on Quests. That'll solve the problem right quick.

Sir Kadarphazân is another.

Who's honestly stacking effects anymore, though? Guts, Sorrow, and Hybros, and maybe Thalion and Namyrra. All Rogues. Meanwhile, Arthur tends to save all his consumables unless he REALLY knows he needs them, just like almost all other non-Rogue Heroes. The problem is not in the effects themselves, it's that a few players have access to many of them at once, and so all the players who save up because they know Endgame and Zepher will require buff-stacked Heroes just for a chance to survive get penalized for those 5-6 Heroes' sake. I support an increase in prices. I support removing Nostrums (which, let's be honest, it's the only buffing consumable with no drawback) from the Marketplace. I do not support limiting the number of positive effects directly.

I know, it's just...I've been waiting a LONG time to Quest with Byblos (you've heard me ask every time before I signed up for a Quest, "will I get back in time for Byblos?"), and then it gets offered when I'm not in the Hall. Just...disappointing, you know?

Quest 85 wasn't delayed...

It is. Take a closer look.

I still think Onslaught should read as follows: Onslaught -- The barbarian chieftain fearlessly attacks all enemies with strength equal to their Level plus all conscious party members' WP added together. The special effects in the other weapons (such as decay) are not transmitted.

"And as it turns out, Sorrow's shopping spree depleted Portia's last supply of consumables in Eubric. Ever! Dejected, she and he shack left Eubric in shame, never to be seen again..."

We have Paragon NPCs.

I'd also say just remove the Nostrums.

I like it. I assume the changes to the Master Classes come into play immediately? Not really. Hexed is a mind-affecting effect, in which the target's will is subverted by the Hex user. Tamed is a mind-effecting effect, in which the target's will is subverted by the Tamed user. The only real difference is the delivery method--if someone is immune to Hex, I generally read it as "this enemy is too strong-willed to have their will subverted", so it makes sense that such an individual would also be immune to taming.

Ahh, I thought the Plague Doctor was tied to 51...you mentioned him having commissioned the automaton of the Masked Man several months earlier, so...

Treason didn't work for him -- In response to this post in the Heroica RPG discussion topic. To wit: I'm guessing Brickdoctor, because he's the only staff member who's looked at my profile recently.

Why not say that immunity to Hexed also provides immunity to Tamed? OK, it's official: my second character will be a Rogue.

I'd like the battle to run quickly just as much as you, in part because I'm upset that I'm missing Quest 85 (if it's not delayed); however, that's no excuse for rudeness. EDIT: @Quest 82: Oh my god. *CLICK*

Hmm, didn't Endgame's NPC in Quest 48 have a SHIELD skill like that? I really liked it, that would work well for Onslaught. Also, I approve of Archmage. Arthur and Thalion together could insta-power an entire army of Mages. Let the Mage Uprising begin!

But that's exactly what Sandy's solution is: bypassing the efforts of Heroes who have put a lot of Gold into their SP, by disallowing their damage to be nullified. The problem is not the SP. The problem is Heroes dealing passive damage. Thus, we don't need to change how we treat SP, we need to change how we treat Counterstriking and related abilities (i.e. my Zap-Tap Badge), so that Heroes need to take damage in order to passively deal it.

Also, didn't we already have this discussion when "At Least One Damage" was vetoe'd?

Actually, if you study counterstrike-like martial arts (i.e. Jujitsu), you'll find that it's more about turning the enemy's power against them than about waiting for an opening and using your own strength to throw a blow. In effect, it's more "the enemy runs into your fist" than "the enemy punches you and you retaliate".

"Dwarf, move your troops South-West, they need to keep out of range of those swordsmen. Lord Boomingham, if you direct your Knights directly North, I believe they could skirt the edge of the building and get out of range of the crossbowmen, putting them in a better position to strike the enemy footsoldiers. Lady Nerwen, if you could allow Lady Ellaria's troops to move before mine, we will be in a better position to swiftly remove these threats from the field of battle." Arthur's troops attack Pongcanis Spearmen B.

And Sandy, I hope you know, we're being harsh because we care, and we want to see your artistic vision succeed, rather than diminish.

But that's the problem: that's the only thing they can do. They can't dream up new enemies to counteract the new strategies the Heroes think up, and the Threshold Guardians have been set in stone (no pun intended) since the Fields opened. What's listed as a "medium" battle is a walk in the park by current standards, and even the "Hard" and "Very Hard" battles are just about even with the average battle we're seeing elsewhere. Not that that's necessarily bad in and of itself, but it's not living up to its own vision according to the modern standards.

You know, the real "problem" I'm seeing here is, again, some Heroes have more and some have less (both in terms of abilities and items), and we seem to be trying to force an equality between them. I've seen this argument played out in so many fields, I'm getting sick of it, and I'm almost at the point where I'd be OK with all of the gold and loot from all Heroes being gathered into a single account and divided up evenly, just so that people will stop complaining about the gap. And then all of the Heroes are forced to take the same basic, Advanced, Expert, and Master classes just to be sure everything is even. (Almost, not quite.) The only way that this game will ever be "balanced" is if a bolt of lightning struck and reset everything in Heroica--plot, Heroes, items, etc.--back to Day 1. The game was balanced in those very beginning days. The moment that first battle in Old Mack Dounald's fields ended and the Heroes earned experience and loot, the game became unbalanced--and it will never be "balanced" again. Fair? That's a different story. For the most part, I think it is, though there are some unfair situations--but generally we try to solve those on a gentle case-by-case basis so that we can actually solve the problem instead of just switching who's being wronged. I also think that QMs shouldn't be trying to "win". Put the Heroes in danger? Yes. Actually intend to defeat them? Unless it's a specific plot point, no. This is one of the two biggest problems with the Fields of Glory: it was intended as a "hardcore" challenge in which the QM is actively trying to outmaneuver the Heroes and force them out unless they were literally at the top of their game. (The other one is that it hasn't really evolved at all in response to the changes in the rest of the meta--it's stayed almost exactly the same as it was when it first opened, and as a result has not coped well with power creep.) The Fields were never meant to be "beaten", so now that it's happening, people think there's a problem with the Heroes, instead of people realizing the real problem is with the Fields themselves.

Normally, I'm against it, but it's clear that Sandy's philosophy is that positive effects shouldn't change the general "difficulty level" of his battles. It's a matter of QM philosophy, and for my suggestions I'm trying to work within Sandy's philosophy. As long as I know ahead of time that that's how the QM is going to run their battles, I can live with it, even if I don't really like it. It's when the QM assumes the players will use consumables that problems happen (see the first battle against Sorona). TL;DR, if it's a choice between consumables becoming useless in general or getting f*cked in the middle of a battle by positive effects running out, I'll take the former.