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Part of the conversion was a look at classes, and a reversal of the "Well, I think (Classname) should get this, since this other class has it!" mindset. Classes are NOT supposed to all have the same skills. If they do, what's the point of having classes in the first place? Thus, many classes will find that they no longer have access to certain skills/spells. The changes are, for the most part, minor, and should be only of little inconvenience. Know that they are for the overall good, and that we spent many long hours going over every class on the mud to make these changes. The conversion team was given two months to convert their zones. Some did, some did not. No unconverted zone is allowed to be "open" now that we're officially "converted", and those zones not done by the time the conversion was installed have been closed. This means two things: First, those zones are not accessable by mortals, and if you load into one of those zones for some reason, you must magically exit. Zones will not be opened to allow people to get out, you'll have to do that on your own. Second, when a zone is closed, all the equipment in that zone becomes "Invalid", meaning it cannot be worn, wielded or used. This is on purpose, as any invalid item is no longer in balance with the rest of the world. Closed zones will be converted as soon as possible, but you may yell at the zone's creator for having succumbed to procrastination and forcing it to be closed if you with, names will be provided upon request. >;) Our "Conversion" efforts have been on-going since January 2000, and have culminated in what you will now find online on Aurealan Realms. 9 months ago, we started with the idea that we wanted to make magic special again, and not so commonplace. Cyng and I worked for months, devising a plan by which we would create Craftsmanship levels for objects, so that one could have a regular longsword, an expertly made longsword, which would be slightly more durable and give its wielder a slight edge in battle, or a mastercrafted longsword, which would be more durable yet, and even better in battle. From that idea, we came up with the charts we now have, and have used to convert every object in the mud (well, almost every object) available to players. We have lessened the # of items that are innately magical, probably by about 40-45%, and somewhat constrained the strengths of the magical items that remain. Invulnerable objects are now much less common, an much of the common statistic-altering items have zoomed skyward in minlevel. This will put "younger" characters at a disadvantage, but there are trade-offs. We have standardized weapon damages. A level 1 player can now get a weapon that will do close to the maximum damage allowable, of one can be found. There are now three classes of each type of weapon, representing different (and more hazardous to be hit with) types of blades/heads. A longsword may have a tapered blade (like a foil or sabre), a standard blade (like your typical longsword) or a serrated blade (like a cutting knife). The damages for those longswords are 1d8, 1d10 and 1d12. Across the realms, you will find no one-handed swords whose damages vary from those three types. All weapons have been set accordingly. One of the largest changes is the removal of magical "damage enhancement" for most wear-slots. Enhancements to the ability to hit ones opponent have not been removed, but extra damage now will only be found in shields, head-wear (not face), hand-wear and foot-wear, and that only at a low level. The reason for this is simple: There was no logical reason why wearing a ring would allow you to hurt someone more with your weapon of choice. Armor class has been standardized as well. We now have a clear-cut chart which explains to our builders exactly how much AC what material-types can have when used on what-wearslot. Obviously, the more rigid, durable material-types have better resistence to being beaten on, but also in the amount of protection they offer. Likewise, weight has been introduced (finally) as a standardized factor. Those with 18/100 strengths will find little difference, but those with lowe strenghts will suddenly find that they cannot carry as much as previously they could. Rest assured, all objects "weight in" by the same charts realms-wide. Also, we have begun to limit the # of spelleq affects an object can have. Those items flagged with a Craftsmanship level of "Enchanted" may have one spelleq spell or affect only, "Magical" items may have one spelleq spell and one spelleq affect, or two spelleq affects and "Legendary" items may have one spelleq spell and two spelleq effects, or three spelleq effects. Lastly, the radical drop in the innate magical nature of the realms has caused several things to disappear. No longer will shoppes sell detect invisibility potions, nor will they always have a full stock of the items you're used to finding in them. Magic is now harder to create, and thus their stocks have dwindled drastically. Also, mechanical magics (wands, staves, scrolls or potions) that cast the more powerful magical dweomers (like power heal, haste, stoneskin, etc.) have vanished. For any interested, the charts used for this conversion (and those which will be used for building on AR from this point forward) are available for viewing at http://www.aurealanrealms.org/arbuild/. Please understand that the immstaff will not have time to explain them to everyone who may or may not have questions about them, they are provided solely as a convenience for those who would like to see them. -Zaulh'ghev |