Ok, here are my first ideas ...

[Eltharion]

Well I read the FAQ and a bit on the board.
Now I'll throw my ideas to the wolves ...

- fully extensive customizable look for the players avatar. Cloaks and real robes, not the spandex(TM) look of EQ or AC.
Different hairstyles, faces, facial hair, lean and slender or fat or muscle packed body styles, different heights, all
to make each character unique.


- no loot item should be more powerful than an item
made by the best PC crafter/mages. A single blacksmith should be able to make different types and shapes of armor.
E.g. If he fashiones a platemail he should be given a choice of different looks, not always the same one.
Master Blacksmithees,Tinkerers,Jewlers and Archmages (Highpriest?) working together should be able to create the most powerful items in the game, but should have to pay a high price for doing so ... experience or permanent hp-mana
max reduction in addition to rare components needed to create the item.



- real necromancy - I want to raise the corpses of the fallen to do my bidding, even a (small) Army of the dead.
But I should be prepared to pay the price. A Necromancer will suffer from graverot or other illnesse, he will be shunned or hunted by the populace. The master goal for a necromancer should be the transformation to a lich or even lichlord.

- Summoning demons. A evil magician should be able to summon demons, but it should require extensive preparations.
And there always should be the danger of a demon being to powerful for a caster or an incantation going wrong ...

- skill and stat restrictions on items.
If these restrictions are not met the item should be less
effective.
But a newbie should be able to wield the item though.
Why should he not wield the mighty dragonslayer his father
gave him, even if he can't hit the broad side of a barn with it. The items may have a percentage of theire power
in correspondece to the skill needed to fully use the item.
e.g a magiuc sword with a swordsmanship restriction of 100
should only have 10% of it's magical power when used by a newbie warrior with a swordsmanship of 10.

well these are the first few ideas, more will follow ...
after you ripped the first ones apart ;-)

Eltharion

[Kymeri mac An Iolar]

Eltharion good to see you jumping in.

Most of the players want the customizable looks that you mention, I think we are all tired of the same generic look of the mmorpg's.

Yes, we have asked for the trade skills to be well supported and that anything that can be found a player could make. BHT has already said that players will be able to make armor/weapons that are just as good if not better than what can be found, they also stated that player's could combine and make a quite powerful items.

Chuckles, I think your not the only one who wants real necromancy. I think Morte is chanting for it too.

Quite agree on the demons. If you want to try it, you assume the risks involved if your not powerful enough to control it.

Regarding skill/stat item restriction. That is exactly what has been suggested by others that a newbie could use it, but perhaps not as effectively and that it might cause damage to the item as a newbie doens't use it properly

See, I didn't rip them apart at all. :)

[Slitherrr]

Curses, I tried posting something here and it timed out, let's see if I can remember what I was saying...

It was along the lines that the graverot you mentioned there would be an interesting way to have necros visually advance in power... The more corpse-like, the more aged, and the more advanced...

In other news, great to see you participating Eitharion, suggestions are what the boards are for and I'm glad there's so many people in our little community that realize that.

[BelDragos]

Your suggestions seem to be well thought out and a marouding demon escaped from a bungling mage is a classic senerio. Something to throw at us for a plot.

[Indigo]

speaking of the dead:).. I like all the ideas you posted. Seems like we are all on the same track thinking wise on avatars, I guess we are tired of cookie cutout characters.I also like the necro ideas.. especially the grave rot part:) .. um so when we banish that demon, does it stay gone or can the caster bring back the same one.. and if we do banish the demon brought by the evil wizard.. does he take some sort of damage?

[BelDragos]

In D&D when a demon, devil, or other plane being was slain they couldn't return to the Prime Material Plane ( the game world )for 1d10X10 years. The slaying didn't hurt the summoner other than the dislike of the demon turned towards them.

[Eltharion]

Suggestions for demon summoning ...

(I don't even know if this is practical)

Summoning demons should be a quest like undertaking.
The Summoner has to find out the true name of the demon he
wants to call upon, the right offerings to bring him to the material plane. These things could be anything from mundane things like food or alcohol to the blood of an innocent murderer executet at midnight of new years eve.
The name and offering could be randomized for each demon the Summoner tries to research upon. After banishment this demon would only be able to be called upon again if the Summoner banished it himself. (send him home). Otherwise the information regarding the demon would be worthless as it could not return for the next 1001 years. (Arcanity 2 *g*)
This leaves a questions :

- How does this demon researching work within MMORPG terms?

Any suggestions?

Eltharion

[BelDragos]

Demon summoning should work for anyone who has the correct formula, True Name, offering, and power to attract the demons attention.

The summoner must prepair the area for the arrival of the demon by constructing the Circle of Protection. The demon appears in the circle and after making a few attempts to escape, demands to know why it was summoned.

This is the point where the summoner and his captor bargains for the demons release.

Making a deal with a demon can turn out bad in so many ways that it is considered something a madman would do. They will twist the wishes of the summoner so they obey the request to the letter without giving him what he wanted unless the summoner is very cleaver or it is part of the demon's plans.

The summoner then sends the demon back to it's plane of existance.

The more a demon traveles to a particular location, the easier it is for it to return to it on it's own.

A more powerful demon could push a lesser demon aside during a summoning to take the other's place. When it appears in the circle it usually breaks the circle because the summoner wasn't expecting an elephant to arrive in the place of a kitten.

To banish a demon it would require the True Name of the demon and the power to open a portal into the realm where the demon came from.

This will not prevent it from returning to have it's vengence upon the persons who banished it.

Slaying a demon's physical manifestation will sent it back to the plane from whense it came for a length of time that it takes the demon to collect enough energy to create a material body. During this time the demon is forbidden to enter this world. It is free to roam the other planes if it wishes.