Removing things from the game

[Bregga]

I keep seeing things being removed from the game or being limited. Are there going to be new things added to keep the game diverse and interesting? I've always felt that adding things to something like a game and not subtracting will make it better and appeal to more people. Diversity, not limited options is what I feel we need to attract more players. I hope I do not offend anyone but these are just my thoughts on the matter.

[Harroghty]

I'm sorry that you feel this way about the game. Would you please be specific about the instances that are concerning you? I personally feel very different about the game of late; I feel that things are being added and improved. Please let us know about any specific issues you have noticed so that they can be addressed appropriately.

[Bregga]

Character generation
All of the 'not yet playable' races have been removed from character generation, as have Centaurs, Wemics, Bugbears and Hobgoblins. Goblins are the only option that remain from 'Rare races' and have been moved to 'Orcs'.

I was going to make either a bugbear, centaur or a wemic I was trying to decide which. Its frustrating when things you want to do are taken away. The limiting of levels on some races as well as the lose of stats on others (dwarves). Then there are things like the hold on Glory points, as well as the dwelling situation. Would you be able to tell me what all has been added?

[Lathlain]

While I understand your concerns - I don't think it's either fair or accurate to imply that things are being removed, and nothing is being added/replaced/repaired. I refer you to the thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5223&start=40

A point of confusion, perhaps, is the omission of certain details on our part. For instance - the removal of the centaur/wemic/bugbear races from character creation was based on several observations, not least their base stats (which granted +8str, +4dex, +2wis, +4con, extra, stronger attacks, higher base armour class, improved saves - and a single negative in the form of -2int!). Without wishing to compromise the race files for NPCs too, considering all of the often-broken/stretched policies surrounding the way they should be played and in the interests of bringing the operational ruleset more in line with D&D, the decision to remove these races was an obvious one.

All of that said however, you do raise some valid points. The matter of glory, for example, is one that really needs to be addressed. Several ideas are in place for a universal reward system, but it's a topic that's fraught with dilemma and woe! Feel free to submit ideas on the games suggestion forum, of course. Ideas are never turned aside. As for dwellings, that's actually something that's in hand as we speak! I can only ask that you watch this space, but things are always happening.

[Bregga]

I understand that they are strong but they also take quite a bit of kismet, 800 at the least I believe. Which would require 800 hours of play to achieve if none is granted via other means. From what I have seen there is not much equipment available for the larger races in the game. I know this is a Role Play mud but I do not think having strong races detracts anything from the game. I have RPed with many strong characters and have never found the RP to be lacking. I feel that more races, more classes, more quests, harder quests all would make the game more interesting and more appealing to people who want to come RP, that being said we will always have those that come looking to twink, they will do it no matter what.

Do not assume that because I say all this that I do not appreciate all the hard work being done to make the game better, but diversity is going to make people stay for the long run.

[Raona]

I've recently become involved in the hard code side of things, and have been unable to find uninterrupted time in which to RP, so the focus of recent efforts on the back end of things is quite clear in my mind. I'm not sure if the focus is a result of reflection, or of reaction, but in the recent past the focus on the code end of things has been on bringing the game up to 3.5 edition rules. (Let me disclaim that as an old school pen-and-pencil player who was initially eager about going from 1st ed. to 2nd ed rules, but afterward wondered if it really was an improvement, particularly for the sake of RP...I've never been among those pushing for this!) As part of this process, the code has been cleaned up, and some things that weren't done at all, or were not done correctly, have been repaired or (more often, I'd say!) revamped completely. Throughout this process there has been a focus on balance - on making sure that if anything, the balance between races/classes/what have you was at least not worsened, and ideally improved. Some key things I can remember:

1) Bonus feat functionality as well as a cadre of special bonus feats were added; feats were re-vamped: all were checked for utility and function, and some (hopelessly broken ones) were removed, others fixed, and some new ones added.
2) Resistances have been added, and are still being worked on
3) Several combat-related issues were addressed/fixed: some brought out by players viewing them as loopholes and abusing them, some through the process of testing the new feats and resistances
4) The current big project is updating all the race files - a huge undertaking, made necessary by the addition of such things as new feats and resistances. But in the process we found all sorts of balance issues - dragons were relatively wimpy, undead of even a given type (say zombies) were very inconsistent, and it turned up all sorts of issues in the rare races being considered for or already implemented as player races.
5) Racial and magical abilities (continual and use per day) are also getting a major revamp, which should fix some bugs and clean up how they function more generally. This is also finally granting some of these to races that should have them but don't, and some new ones are being added, or have already been added (darkvision, magic resistance, etc.) in that pursuit.

4&5 are the driving force behind many of the changes players are currently experiencing. I have not been involved in the conversations about dropping any race options, but I can tell you with certainty that balance is big issue to the coders and leaders of the game - they want it to be FAIR, sometimes even at the expense of features, options, or customization routes for PCs (though new feat trees are certainly a point of growth in that department).

I should add that on the area code side of things (I'm less involved in that) several new areas have been brought in, and the paladin system has undergone a complete revamp, including the coded lessons and many of the rules therefore.

This is a long way of saying that from my vantage point, any game change is going to sacrifice something in pursuit of some other objective, if for no other reason than the coders' time is limited. Recent changes have cost some races/combat tricks/ways to buff one's character in the pursuit of (better adherence to) 3.5 edition rules and balance between PCs, as well as efforts to clean up long-standing bugs. This is not to say that you don't have a valid argument in saying the ends were not worth the means, Bregga. But certainly in the list above are several additions to the game. The question is whether, in the end, they leave the FK world a better place. I leave that to continued debate (as I've not been able to actually play enough to speak with any authority). (But I'll add that in my earlier years here...I never had a great RP with any member of the recently eliminated rare races...indeed, even with those remaining, like goblins and halfdrow...I've rarely felt like I'm dealing with a typical member of said race. Tieflings are the exception, in my experience...they ACT like tieflings, most of the time.)

[Gwain]

In the five or so years since the new character creation system had been implimented, I've seen about five to ten centaurs, three wemics, one bugbear and maybe one hobgoblin. Of the centaurs I'd say only half were active and dedicated to the role. Removing them makes sense, as they contributed little and most of the players that went through the selection process to have them added to the game in the first place, have moved on or opted to pursue other ingame venues. This goes hand-in-hand with unreleased player races, as they were unneeded to be pursued, they were phased out in emphasis of our current ingame races.

So, the two do balance out. More to the point, we are left with fewer races to focus on, which makes things better in the sense that we don't need to plan around centaurs in new features for the mud, working around centaurs, bugbears or wemics in the name of balance is taxing. Centaurs are too strong, too limited in scope and area design to be viable for good roleplay, bugbears are just uglier expendable orcs, hobgoblins are goblins at double the henchman cost.

I think that justifies removing them from the game as a viable option, the misuse or under use. As for playable races that were never introduced, five years is a long time and the mud itself at least beneifits from an expansion of npc racial options.

[Alaudrien]

Agreed Gwain. The races that where taken out where the ones not many played and where far to limited to be fun for long. Now there where some races I'd have liked to see implemented. Like Svirfneblin they could give the drow some competition and rp below, and a few other races that are just variation and subraces of the main ones. But for the most part the ones that where removed where just unviable my man.

[Verrau]

Just looking at stats is a bit misleading because it doesn't reflect the difficulty in playing these characters due to area restrictions and code quirks (like the buginess which makes my wemic tire after moving two rooms.) Unusual races do make for great RP characters. Overall though, I can see how it is a challenge to balance the races as a whole, which is why some races (including our few tabaxi characters) may be better suited for application/RP-only.

That said, poor Verrau's chances of ever finding a boyfriend seem to have dropped considerably!
Not to mention my planned litter of cute little Oghman wemic cubs. (How cute would that be? )