Report 527

Report #527
Skillset: Psychometabolism Skill: Shift
 Org: Nekotai Status: Rejected Jan 2011
Furies' Decision:
We do not find this to be necessary.
Problem: Psychometabolism shift is a flawed ability for several reasons. It is
one of the four psymet skills which requires an open channel (cell adjust, body
fuel, & sus animation) and one of two that may have combat application (sus
animation). Overall there is a conflicted vision if/how psymets are to use
channeled actions due to due to the 4s Sub and 7s Super balance times. Secondly,
the skill fails when there are no "walls" or "doors" to pass through. The skill
is unable to pass through all "wall" types (such as phantom wall) or blockades.
Stealth evade bypasses all walls in a half to third of the recovery time. There
is a lack of wooden doors (villages, Duum, and manses), or need to pass through
them. Finally, there is an overlap with stealth evade, harmony akhoosh, tahtetso
polevault, beastmastery jumping, environment tumble, and the competing secondary
acrobatics somersault / handspring to bypass obstacles. Although each skill is
nuanced to a particular situation, phasing through wooden doors at a 4s or 7s
balance loss is not reason enough to keep a psi channel open for psymet shift.
Stealth monks will evade, harmony monks akhoosh. Neither will have any
compelling reason to shift.
Solution #1: Fix shift to include all walls, blockades, and be actionable
 outside of obstacles/doors. Expand ability to pass through metal
 doors, but not including reinforced doors. May also consider
 extending eye sigil to block passage of shift.
Solution #2: Fix shift to include all walls, blockades, and be actionable
 outside of obstacles/doors. Expand ability to act like tumble to
 move past obstacles and sustain momentum in doing so.
Solution #3: Change shift to lock a channel and allow the active ability to
 SHIFT out of bonds and grapple. This should behave similar to
 tipheret or summer but includes grapples. Use of SHIFT should
 cost 2s balance or equilibrium.
Player Comments:
---[Sahmiam on 1/8 @ 00:04 writes]:
Support for only removing the wall/door requirement to activate the ability.
Solutions 2 and 3 are too much. Sustaining momentum for fleeing is not
acceptable. Solution 3 is not acceptable as it completely gives far too much to
the skillset and an upgraded summer/tipheret is just unneccessary and, in my
opinion, unwelcomed.
---[Janalon on 1/8 @ 19:02 writes]:
I am unclear as to what removing the wall/door requirement would achieve in fix
of the skill. Sahmiam, would you be willing to elaborate how this would be an
improvement upon the skill? Also, outside of the recomended solutions, can you
envision any other options to either improve or totally revise the ability?
---[Sahmiam on 1/13 @ 00:25 writes]:
I think the skill is the wrong skill to fix, as all monks have options, as you
stated. All of your solutions are overpowered as they a power-free ability is
bypassing things that include barrier (10p, I think) and crucify (8p) not to
mention that solution three totally destroys grapples worse than contort ever
will. Bodyfuel, in my opinion, has more combat utility than shift, and I would
keep the ID channel open for that in certain situations. If you remove the
requirement for shift that it must bypass a wall or door, the skill does become
situationally useful (as you can do it off balance, and evade, handspring, tum,
etc. require balance).
---[Janalon on 1/14 @ 06:49 writes]:
Your assertion about bypassing barrier, crucify, and the like is wrong. If you
carefully read the proposed solution, you would see that I have only aimed the
skill at "grapples" and no other power-associated hinderance such as crucify,
ping, or impale. No disrespect to you, sir. But if you believe that bodyfuel has
any combat utility then I question your underlying assertions about
psychometabolism. Bodyfuel is locked into the Id channel, which comes with a +5s
recovery time that prohibits both monk equilibrium and balance, not to mention
decreases health in a proportion greater than a 1:1 health to ego ratio. Outside
of lowmagic yellow and stealth veil, I have no immediate use for the skill, much
less in a direct one-to-one or group combat situation. Bodyfuel is neither
mentioned in either the problem or solution. You are simply barking up the wrong
tree, and attempting to derail the conversation off the skill of the psyet skill
of shift with your mention of bodyfuel. Shift is especially the right skill to
fix, as the nuance of a shift movement is both underpowered and overlapped by
other monk options to move past obstacles.
---[Janalon on 1/14 @ 12:15 writes]:
Err, clarification needed. Bodyfuel is 1 power (not reserve) for 1000 health, up
to 5 power per action. My prior comment about 1:1 health to ego ration
specifically points to cell adjustment which is often used to shift the costs of
a body fuel. That point was miscommunicated on my part.
---[Prav on 1/15 @ 19:00 writes]:
I support solution 3, though have no objections to any of the proposed
solutions. The reason I prefer solution 3 is because PsyMet is already a fairly
defensive skillset. While Sol. 3 -is- a defensive solution, it is one that could
be applied to maintaining an offense as opposed to escaping an enemy offense.
With Solution 3, PsyMet users would be able to mount a less interrupted offense
against certain opponents where they would have otherwise been hindered.
---[Sahmiam on 1/15 @ 21:13 writes]:
I definitely disagree that bodyfuel is useless. Infinite power is definitely
useful in combat situations, giving one the ability to do things such as
permanently greatpenting a room. You can bodyfuel suspend animation as well. In
fact, start considering many other skills that aren't guild specific. Serpent,
Winter, attune, block, etc. Simply because things aren't immediately apparant
doesn't mean that they're not present. Again, I don't understand how I'm
derailing when part of the problem with shift is that it requires ID to be
unlocked, which you then asserted has no other use. I pointed to bodyfuel which
allows for strategies that can be quite powerful; no, you would not use them in
one versus one or mid-fight, but they are powerful pre-fight and during group
fights. Solution 3 is too good, even if I did miss read it. If that's going to
go through, because of the immediate cure to grapples, it needs a rec time
longer than 2 seconds.
---[Janalon on 1/17 @ 18:40 writes]:
Spoke with Sahm regarding this report, and clarified how psi channel recovery
works in regards to balance and equilibrium. Following this conversation, he
suggested Shift to act like tumble AND could be used off balance (similar idea
to solution 2). I hope Sahm will comment to confirm as much. However,
considering REPORTs 447 and 494 which ruled against psionics working while off
balance, I might further suggest to change Shift to a channel lock ability. Use
of SHIFT would allow a tumble-like escape to be initiated while off balance.
Would be open to additional suggestions.
---[Sahmiam on 1/22 @ 06:29 writes]:
My suggestion was to keep it an unlocked ability (locked would be acceptable,
but I think it's a bit too much) that keeps its current functionality except in
two ways: it does not require a wall or door to pass through and it can be done
off balance. It's a fleeing skill, and given that acrobatics has contort and
spring up, an off-balance escape skill would be unique, interesting, and provide
and be a worthwhile alternative that would suffer from the longer off-eq times.