Report 1513

Report #1513
Skillset: Druidry Skill: Sapling
 Org: Aeromancers Status: Completed Aug 2016
Furies' Decision:
Solution 2.
Problem: Saplings are used to prevent other people from terraining/breaking
melds, much like phantasms terrain/mirage for mages. The only way to get rid of
a sapling is to chop it down with an axe. In natural forest environments, this
takes two chops. In other environments that have been forested by a druid, this
takes one chop. Each chop takes 4 seconds, while realitycheck takes only 2.5
seconds. Both sapling and phantasms terrain take 2 seconds of equilbrium. This
creates a huge discrepancy between a mage trying to break a druid meld and vice
versa. In natural forest environments, this can take up to 8 seconds of balance
to get rid of a sapling. This leaves the last 4 seconds from the second chop
where the mage can do nothing and is a significant window for the druid to just
plant another sapling. Before the overhaul it was possible to get faster axes
that lowered this balance. This report aims to address this discrepancy and
bring the two types of melders closer together so that meld wars, particularly
in 1v1 scenarios don't favour the druid so heavily.
Solution #1: Make saplings take only one chop to fell no matter what
 environment they were planted in.
Solution #2: In addition to solution 1, reduce the base balance time of
 chopping saplings to 3 seconds.
Player Comments:
---[Demartel on 8/1 @ 01:18 writes]:
Supported
---[Synkarin on 8/1 @ 01:19 writes]:
Sure, supported
---[Synkarin on 8/1 @ 12:11 writes]:
As an aside, you used to be able to get a maxspeed axe to reduce chopping time.
This is no longer the case
---[Ryboi on 8/1 @ 23:05 writes]:
Supported
---[Enyalida on 8/2 @ 01:02 writes]:
This is fine.
---[Enyalida on 8/2 @ 01:03 writes]:
Just be sure that this doesn't change Moonhart saplings/trees.
---[Cyndarin on 8/2 @ 01:29 writes]:
Sure. A couple other changes would be necessary to actually make there a parity
between melds. 1) you can reality over a druid demesne, you cannot sapling a
mage demesne. This makes druid meld supporters inferior to mages. 2) Demesne
wide sapling is always 10 power, where as mage wide mirage has a variable power
based on demense size.
---[Dylara on 8/2 @ 01:30 writes]:
Another option would be to just not allow Terrain in Illusions to cover
Saplinged rooms, which I know was brought up in an aside while discussing this.
---[Dylara on 8/2 @ 02:32 writes]:
I do want to stress that this should not effect the Ravenwood and Moonhart
Saplings, because those DO NOT need to be chopped down in one hit.
---[Raeri on 8/2 @ 09:53 writes]:
Supported, with the caveat that it only applies to the sapling form of trees
summoned with Druidry. Would also support changing the demesne sapling casting
cost to mirror Mirage.
---[Enyalida on 8/2 @ 23:47 writes]:
Frankly, it shouldn't be much of an issue on Ethereal at all, as the major
fights there should always have one forest on each side, with insta-sapling
removing powers from the druid guilds on eiter side. I still support the
solution, but where is this a problem?
---[Synkarin on 8/3 @ 02:29 writes]:
...it's a problem everywhere you don't have a druid, including Ethereal. Reality
Check is a general skill that removes terrain in one, shorter 2,5 second
balance. Chop is a general skill that will take anywhere from 4 to 8 seconds.
The 4 seconds vs 2.5 seconds is already a disparity, adding in a required second
chop makes this more absurd. The disparity isn't between reality and the mulch
skill isolated to two classes, it's between reality and the other generally
available skill that removes saplings.
---[Tremula on 8/5 @ 17:29 writes]:
Supported on Druidry summoned trees, rather than ones gained from power quests.
---[Lerad on 8/9 @ 00:51 writes]:
I support solution 1 or 2, leaning toward 2.
---[Wobou on 8/17 @ 13:44 writes]:
I support solution 2 and would also be interested in looking at the items raised
by Cyndarin.
---[Xenthos on 8/31 @ 21:52 writes]:
Solution 1 will work. I don't know about reducing speed, as that may also
reduce chop speed for other trees that we don't really want chopped.