Istari

Reply to Global Mana Pool Design Revealed in War of Magic Stardock Forums

There has been an inherant problem with the concept of this game from the beginning. The game is a spiritual successor to Master of Magic where magic is scarce and coveted like food stamps in a third-world environment. A small handful of people are in control of the magic pie, and have to sacrifice slices to let the magic spread. This makes it very difficult for the game to be heavy on the magic side, as it is somewhat gimped by its own backstory - and 'heavy on the magic side' is what most p

Reply to [WIP] Demo for combat flow/mechanics in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[e digicons]k1[/e] I think this gives a very clear example of some interesting combat mechanics for the game. If all or most of the unit abilities from MoM were included, I think most people would have more fun in tactical battles. Does your model include resistances?

Reply to The Elemental all-purpose mega thread in War of Magic Stardock Forums

I have a general comment regarding the UI. Many people have extensively addressed the functionality, but my mini-gripe would be with the asthetics. Firstly, the fonts need to be grander or more stylized or fancy or however you want to put it. Secondly, the appearance is a little squarish and bland. Make it a bit more interesting by doing things like making the spellbook look like old parchment, or using things found in a wizards lab as menu backdrops, or even integrate them by

Reply to The Elemental all-purpose mega thread in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Just take every spell and every unit ability from MoM and implement it all (where applicable). Add the To-Hit stat, magical attacks and various resistances. Also, remove the researching for some of the more simple techs to make them a given (heroes, dungeons, etc.), and start the sovereign off with some spells. In this way, you will bottle that priceless element - nostalgia. It fogs up the glass so that people can't see clear enough to really complain about anything.

Reply to Elemental: War of Magic v1.08 Change Log in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

[quote who="AbsynthMinded" reply="104" id="2775015"] Quoting Istari, reply 100So you would prefer that you be forbidden from recruiting certain NPCs until you have sufficient adventuring tech versus paying more for NPCs that you don't have the tech? Instead of a denial for recruiting champions you do not have the right level of tech for, have a massive increase in payment that was modified by the difference between level required and level possessed currently. I wo

Reply to how many people have received more orders of the LE than they paid for??? in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Will this affect those people who have ordered a box of either Standard or LE and have not yet received it? I imagine it would create some shortage of copies, or it could be that a box that was meant for Customer A was instead shipped to Customer B superfluously, and if not reported properly, may be considered to have been successfully delivered to Customer A. Any official word on this?

Reply to Master of Magic Mod in WOM Mods Elemental Forums

[quote who="Wintersong" reply="2" id="2772429"] Master of Magic is the best game ever. The above statement is fact, not opinion. It's an opinion.[/quote] When factoring in the manner in which it was stated, the technicality becomes irrelevant. What actually happens is that a new and parallel world is instantiated upon completion of that statement, wherein Master of Magic is indeed the best game ever. I travel there often.

Reply to Australian Release Date in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I asked at GAME today and was told that they have 30th September as their release date on the system. I put $10 down on the pre-order which I'll now use as store credit, as I just purchased the LE version on Impulse. That makes this purchase $50 dearer than it would have been. Oh well.. [e digicons]^_^[/e]

Reply to Elemental Mod example requests in Elemental Dev Journals Elemental Forums

Please make a Lord of Sorcery Mod. All the specifications for this mod are available in great detail if you just find a synonym for Lord and then a synonym for Sorcery. [e digicons]:P[/e]

Reply to AI Language/Personality in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

[quote who="IronKaiser" reply="3" id="2767997"]I like this idea. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is the fact that the AI nations need more personality, and this would be one way to give it to them. My only question is this: how exactly would "calmed" and "suspicious" and etc. affect the game? Other than the conversation itself, it seems that the only thing the attitude results would do is change your diplomatic standing with the other nation, which I don't think is significant enoug

Reply to Health, Mana, and Energy in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I like this idea. The global and combat mana are separated as in MoM, which I think works well. The combat mana regeneration sounds like a good improvement, as it would give you the flexibility to design a unit that shouldn't ever have to rely on physical prowess. [e digicons]k1[/e]

Reply to AI Language/Personality in WOM Ideas Elemental Forums

I don't think this would be a difficult thing to implement even at this stage, though I could be wrong. I just think it would make the game feel more real.

Reply to Diplomacy Ideas in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I like the one-on-one duel option between sovereigns. It's an all or nothing gambit, high risk high reward. Makes things interesting, but I think there should also be the option for Sovereigns to elect champions to fight on their behalf for these one-on-ones. As far as Diplomacy goes, I had another idea that got lost in the swarm of the Elemental Army point-grabbing rush. It was about having RPG-like conversations between sovereigns that were more than one comment deep.

Reply to What happened to Real Time battles? in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I personally don't mind the limit. I think in MoM it was something like 9 units. I think that a smaller limit provides for better strategising in manually fought battles, and less tedium in trying to assign commands to a large number of units per turn, per battle. It just means you have to think about your unit grouping. I think the only strategy this really disallows is battle swarming. That is, a player with high economy but weak military, mass manufacturing cheapy units to

Reply to Discussing Ranged Weapons for Strategic Depth in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I like this idea. I think it would help with the balancing side too. I disagree with some of the accuracy stats and the ammunition though. I think all bows should have the same base accuracy, unless it's something like a 'Superior Bow'. Also, I can't see why a shortbow user would have less ammunition than a greatbow user.

Reply to Australian Release Date in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[e digicons]k1[/e] Thank you for that. That would give them around 4 days to make good. I don't mind too much, it will give the game a chance to have some more patching done. Cheers.

Australian Release Date in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Do we have anything more solid than just 'Sometime in September'?

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="seanw3" reply="20" id="2763214"]So if polls only represent a certain percentage of a specific type of user, they should put a small team together to figure out how much that group represents the feelings of the whole community.[/quote] Well, not exactly. As far as I understand it, the polls offer a statistic based on a sample of the total population of a set. In this instance, the set is all those people with a vested interest in EWoM (i.e. anyone who has bought or will co

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

@Tempestwrath Sorry if it sounded like I took your opinion as an attack or something, it wasn't the tone I intended to convey. Again, I'm pretty much in agreement with all that you've said, but I do have one thing I'd like to point out. Regarding who is likely to vote in the polls, these things are only ever going to be a sample of the total population of invested people. From those people who tend to be more vocal, there are plenty who are for and against any given it

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="Tempestwrath" reply="16" id="2763006"] We don't need a poll. Let Stardock do their jobs. And if you aren't satisfied with their design vision or the job they do, there are plenty of other developers willing and happy to sell games to you in the future.[/quote] The fact is, Stardock staff members read through the forums and examine ideas and suggestions, and even go so far as to tally up how many mentions of a particular idea or bug have been made so far t

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

Given some of these responses, I'm not sure we should have these polls anymore. I've also become reluctant to consider whether we should have a poll on whether or not to conduct these polls. If only there were some way to gauge the community's opinion on poll polling...... [e digicons]:P[/e]

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="Lfseeney" reply="7" id="2762810"]I think the DEVS have a lot on their plates atm. Lets give them a break from the attack of the Zombie Game Designers. We mean well for the most part, and they have our ideas, now it is time for them to decide, not us, where it goes from here. .... [/quote] You're preaching to the choir here. I have noticed a lot of that lately and am of the same opinion. As for the polls, I consider them a useful tool for d

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="Twohawks" reply="3" id="2762762"]dear lord no do not use polls to decide what to focus on... Polls only represent those that bother to take them..[/quote] At the end of the day, the devs are going to do what the devs are going to do, sometimes even if the outcome of a poll shows that the majority are against it. The votes give an indication to be taken under consideration, but not as the only factor in making the decisions. A poll is like any election, so w

Reply to Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

[quote who="empire2008" reply="1" id="2762750"]you guys wanna poll this to death .. there are about three active polls with this one [/quote] Lol, you're right. But I think it would be more useful if the choice was between what the devs are actually willing to do.

Let's go to the Polls. in War of Magic Elemental Forums

I have been out of it for a while, but I have noticed that there are a number of issues in strong contention among the community here regarding the direction of some game systems and features, i.e. MP, Tactical Combat, Race & Spell Book Distinctions, Unit abilities, etc. To help get the game moving forward in a way that the community might support, can we possibly get a set of polls for the most discussed or controversial issues to save the devs the time and effort it takes to sco