Powerful mage and game rules, [Topic spllit by Baronius] Options

[Baronius]

I understand what he's saying. I was surprised by it too, the first time I fought him. You're expecting a powerful mage, not a physical powerhouse, and yet none of your fighters can deal any serious damage.

I have never understood this type of approach. Why can't a powerful mage have very powerful "physical" resistances via her powerful magic and knowledge? Should every wizard be protected by 9 golems so no one can reach her? Because without resistances, wizards could be killed very easily, considering their low natural hit points and physical defense.

[Baronius]

it still misses the most important part - without good founding rulebending is generally worse than feeding players with the same dish over and over agian

Indeed, it has its risk, but that is one of the few ways to introduce novelties to players. Feeding players with the same dish over and over has no (or very little, other type of) risk, on the other hand. Only the practice can show whether the novelties are okay or not for most players (or if there is anything that compensates the possible imbalanced aspects, see Grey Clan Ep1). Of course, if the modders likes/enjoys her own mod (or its development) and possibly a few other players enjoy the mod as well, then it's already a great thing I believe.

I think Improved Anvil is practically seamless in terms of rules/rulebending, especially because it creates a new world in the game, so basically it doesn't have to be consistent with "original game", because it replaces the original game. Grey Clan Ep1 is another matter -- it's the result, product of a shorter development process, developed by a few people (mostly myself). It affects only a few aspects of the game (such as balance) and only for its own plot, which means it is somewhat inconsistent with the balance of the game. This doesn't disturb the fans of the mod (of course, they wouldn't be fans otherwise). This won't change too much even with Ep2 and Ep3, because they won't alter the whole game, they will only finish the story (if they ever get released, though I definitely want to release Ep2 some day).

It is an art (and in engineering, it's science) how to find the balance between rules and freedom. Rules (restrictions) are required, because otherwise things would be "chaotic" and could not be handled (in engineering, problems couldn't be handled and solved, or even examined), but at the same time, they must provide enough freedom so that we can make the game interesting and complex enough (= many combinations, tactics).