Abracadabra Doo!

[UnknownMurder]

We all come up with great ideas before bedtime. It's funny that, I too just had this great idea.

Why not allow the Wizards to make up their own magic words for each spell they have? At the moment, we have ordinary magic words such as "EI NATHE!" implemented and carried on through heritage since the creation of wizard game mode. I call a suggestion proposal to this mechanic allowing us to have our own unique magic word or (new suggestion) emote for one per spell.

For instance, at the beginning of the round. The wizard picks up the Holy Bible of Metal Gear and memorizes the spell. There should be a dialogue or a selection to choose which how you would prefer to deliver the spell. Firstly, is to whisper, say, shout, or act out the magic word. Dave McWizard would pick shout action. Like your ordinary wizard, you press a spell button from your tab or HUD in which Dave McWizard shouts, "PHOENIX, HEAR MY CRY!". following by the the spell being activated. As for the acting it out, you could type it out as, "Dave McWizard spins his Rod Of Tahuti in the air, summoning orbs to appear before him!" To conclude with how things would go. I had thought this would be an interesting concept to attempt. Although, the risks as I know it to be that emotes/statements may not make sense to people as well as the system can be abusable. Honestly, the magic words we have is meaningless and uncomprehending to anyone and even the wizard to himself unless someone can understand the typical language.

If it's not a great idea...Why am I still here? Just to suffer... Each day, I can feel my fingers and even my keyboards... The mind I've lost... The time I've lost... It won't stop hurting...

MEME DISCLAIMER: Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. UnknownMurder is not held responsible for what may occur if implemented.

[Kaed]

Most of the magic words are stupid puns or memes of some kind.

I approve of anything that gives more variety and originality to wizards.

[UnknownMurder]

The wizard shall say the magic words...

 

[Pacmandevil]

Allowing wizards to choose the words casted to spells would have several effects. None of them positive.

* More memes. If the issue is a spell is a meme, allowing the entirely of the playerbase to choose what meme/reference it is would be counterproductive at best.

* the spells are consistent. As it is now. Making it inconsistent would just make the gameplay with wizard less consistent. Which isn't a good thing.

[Kaed]

Allowing wizards to choose the words casted to spells would have several effects. None of them positive.

* More memes. If the issue is a spell is a meme, allowing the entirely of the playerbase to choose what meme/reference it is would be counterproductive at best.

* the spells are consistent. As it is now. Making it inconsistent would just make the gameplay with wizard less consistent. Which isn't a good thing.

 

While I agree with you on certain points here, namely the potential for abuse, I also firmly disagree that consistency should be a requirement for wizards. They are already wildly varied in design, costume, and powers available on a round by round basis.

If we did this, it would have to either:

1) Be enforced by staff that people are not allowed to make garbage/rude/memey magic words (Urist McWizard shouts "DIK'BUT'HOL!")

2) Be something you choose from several package options at the start. i.e. you don't get to pick specific words but you can choose to have your magic words be the 'silly wizard' set (what we have now', the 'serious wizard' set, which contains 100% less memes. Maybe a chanting one too. Idk.

I don't think that 'people might abuse it' is enough reason to completely obviate this idea though.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

That's a lot of extra policy and regulation for something so minor. I feel like if the words as they are are too silly, then we can change them to another set. But even then, changing them completely is something I don't really think is a good thing. These words are part of the greater ss13 culture and are ubiquitous with wizards. It also reinforces a theme of magic in our setting that it's knowledge of special words that grants power. Cultists share a similar theme where they have to discover specific words for their own spells because the words themselves carry magical power. Wizards do the same. Changing that for wizards would remove a sense of consistency.

[Kaed]

That's a lot of extra policy and regulation for something so minor. I feel like if the words as they are are too silly, then we can change them to another set. But even then, changing them completely is something I don't really think is a good thing. These words are part of the greater ss13 culture and are ubiquitous with wizards. It also reinforces a theme of magic in our setting that it's knowledge of special words that grants power. Cultists share a similar theme where they have to discover specific words for their own spells because the words themselves carry magical power. Wizards do the same. Changing that for wizards would remove a sense of consistency.

 

Jackboot, please. The 'greater ss13 culture' is a cesspit of stupid memes and garbage behavior that was relevant and funny on older servers before we started to try and give them structure and semblance of plot, but they become increasingly bigger dead weight.

We've already removed clowns and mimes, lawyers, the disintegrate wizard spell, allowing greytide behavior, having mercs focused around blowing their nuke, the 'groin' body location, and most recently, cultists having to learn their words.

All of these were part of 'greater SS13 culture' and we got rid of them. We did not need them. They had no particular benefit other than encouraging stupid or repetitive unfun behavior, like locking yourself in a bathroom for 10 minutes to figure out all the cult words.

I personally cringe every time I see one of the dumb things wizards bellow in spellcasting, like 'poly'cracata' when they turn themselves into a parrot, or 'BIRUZ BENNAR' when they cast Mutate. It was funny maybe once. Now it needs to stop, please. Culture is made to change and adapt when new things are required, not to be clung to desperately long after it's doing anything for anyone.

And I think we need to look into changing it to be a lot less goofy.

Edited December 5, 2017 by Guest

[UnknownMurder]

I've gotta say, before I hopped on the forums and looked toward to this. [mention]Kaed[/mention] pretty much explained my views in detailed with a reasonable rebuttal. I've even stated the only known weakness to this is that the system can be abusable. Although, if we are going down with the path that, "people might abuse it". Let me take a moment here, there are a lot of things that "people might abuse it". "People might abuse" the stun baton "People might abuse" emergency shuttle calls. "People might abuse" the SUKH inventions. Why haven't they been thrown out if "People might abuse" them. The rules already makes it clear that it if is abused like any other mechanics, you always can adminhelp it to admins. On the bright side, we'd be weeding out the players who abused it for stupid reasons.

 

These words are part of the greater ss13 culture and are ubiquitous with wizards. It also reinforces a theme of magic in our setting that it's knowledge of special words that grants power. Cultists share a similar theme where they have to discover specific words for their own spells because the words themselves carry magical power. Wizards do the same. Changing that for wizards would remove a sense of consistency.

Kaed pretty much explained the counterpoint to this soft rebuttal. I'm sure we've thrown out some the "greater" SS13 culture for the reasons listed by Kaed. I'd like you approach you with a question then given that you're a Lore Dev. Leader. What do any of these magic words translate to and stand for?

tl;dr:

Urist McWizard says, "[gibberish magic word]" and summons a forcefield!

Urist McCaptain questions, "What does this magic word translate to in Tau Ceti Basic?"

Urist McWizard says, "Uh... No clue. I just chanted it."

Urist McCaptain asks, "Where did these chants come from?"

Urist McWizard yells, "LOL! I HAVE NO IDEA! YOU SEE, I JUST PICKED UP A SCROLL HERE AND MEMORIZED IT!"

The other reason is that it allows the wizard to follow up with the story by including the chants rather just saying drunkard incoherent things.

I have no issues with cultists, cultists are fine as it is and is irrelevant to the suggestion due to it being a group effort than sole individual gimmickry. Obviously, you can't change the chant as a sole person part of the cultist group. Cult is a many. Wizard is one. Self explanatory.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

I think it's unfair to compare a clown and mime role to what amounts to a series of puns. Mimes and clowns do not fit our narrative because they are unending slapstick comedies. These words seem very inconsequential next to clowns. Yes, you may be tired of the puns, but there are other people who aren't. I do not think it is fair for you to be the one to consider when we should stop enjoying a joke. Some of these are also very reaching - I have no idea what BIRUZ BENNAR is referencing. I get what poly'cracata is doing - but I mean, it's such a minor gag. Is humor itself in all forms a violation of HRP? Are we not allowed to smile or enjoy moments of levity?

I'm not posting an official policy as the head lore developer, I'm posting with my opinion. I would be very sad to see the words disappear and a beaucracy of regulations propped up around new ones. I personally would just copy/paste in the words

[Kaed]

I think it's unfair to compare a clown and mime role to what amounts to a series of puns. Mimes and clowns do not fit our narrative because they are unending slapstick comedies. These words seem very inconsequential next to clowns. Yes, you may be tired of the puns, but there are other people who aren't. I do not think it is fair for you to be the one to consider when we should stop enjoying a joke. Some of these are also very reaching - I have no idea what BIRUZ BENNAR is referencing. I get what poly'cracata is doing - but I mean, it's such a minor gag. Is humor itself in all forms a violation of HRP? Are we not allowed to smile or enjoy moments of levity?

I'm not posting an official policy as the head lore developer, I'm posting with my opinion. I would be very sad to see the words disappear and a beaucracy of regulations propped up around new ones. I personally would just copy/paste in the words

 

Bruce Banner is the Hulk's name. It's not a difficult connection to to make and I'm honestly kind of surprised you didn't catch it. Not a comics fan I guess..

I don't think we need to have referential gags built into the game in the game to make it fun to play. I also don't think it will in any way degrade the experience by giving people other options or removing them entirely.

I have to admit though that I'm not a huge fan of you cherry picking bits of my argument and using those bits out of context with the rest to imply that I hate all fun because I think clowns don't belong in the game, or that the extreme of clowns being in the game somehow negates me wishing to change the current wizard spellwords. The inconsequentialness of one of these compared to the other to the other is largely irrelevant.

In any case, I do not think the game should necessarily be devoid of humor. I admit I prefer a more serious tone most of the time, but I also thing people want slapstick, they are capable of creating their own rather than relying on tired old bottled gags that were barely funny in the first place and that they have no control over.

Keeping things as they are for the sake of them always being that way is just stagnation when there could be many improvements. I honestly think you would not actually miss them if you are gone, and that you just are uncomfortable with the idea of something changing in the game that you are used to. Even if I'm wrong though, you would be perfectly free to make your magic words the same ones that we have now if you became a wizard after this change, but others of us would like to do something else.

[Butterrobber202]

*Casts Firebolt*

BANG FUCKER

[Pacmandevil]

Allowing wizards to choose the words casted to spells would have several effects. None of them positive.

* More memes. If the issue is a spell is a meme, allowing the entirely of the playerbase to choose what meme/reference it is would be counterproductive at best.

* the spells are consistent. As it is now. Making it inconsistent would just make the gameplay with wizard less consistent. Which isn't a good thing.

 

While I agree with you on certain points here, namely the potential for abuse, I also firmly disagree that consistency should be a requirement for wizards. They are already wildly varied in design, costume, and powers available on a round by round basis.

 

That doesn't make it inconsistent. The spells themselves never change words.

Just what spells people use.

And "we r hrp remov fun thing" argument is a strawman at best.

We have robot nurses with neon pink hair that goes down to the floor, which would ruin anyone's immersion a lot more than an "EI Nath"

Hell the argument that the hulk spell referencing Bruce Banner is a meme could apply to the hulk mutation itself. As it turns people into strong, angry, green men.

Fuck; the title of this thread is an example of why I'm against this, it'd just go below what low standards we have already.

[Arrow768]

If its used properly then I could see it being used for some interesting gimicks that further reinforce the story the antag wants to tell.

However, it leaves the potential for abuse (but that has already been addressed in the topic and can be resolved with admin intervention.)

Regarding the "greater ss13 culture"

Well, in my opinion the wizard spell words are not that important to the greater culture on the server so they can not be replaced.

Ideally the implementation would be a verb that can be called, if you want to change your words.

If you dont call it (within the first x minutes), then your words wont be changed and they will remain the ones that we currently have for the rest of the round.

[UnknownMurder]

*Casts Firebolt*

BANG FUCKER

For some reason, this made me laugh harder than I thought it would be.

 

That doesn't make it inconsistent. The spells themselves never change words.

Just what spells people use.

 

What. You are not making sense here. Let me try to get us on the same page. We are not changing the spells to a whole new system. To be specific, I am not requesting for a change from fireball to Avada Kedavra. The only proposed is to allow players chant their magic word instead of incoherent things that no understands.

 

And "we r hrp remov fun thing" argument is a strawman at best.

No, this suggestion is promoting HRP by allowing the wizards to chant their own words. This is method can be even more fun.

 

We have robot nurses with neon pink hair that goes down to the floor, which would ruin anyone's immersion a lot more than an "EI Nath"

File a complaint on a player or make a different suggestion on this issue. Although, I will gladly support the removal of robot nurses trying to be MLP with neon pink hair that goes to the floor. This rebuttal has no bearing on this suggestion cannot be used.

 

Fuck; the title of this thread is an example of why I'm against this, it'd just go below what low standards we have already.

 

>giving people the freedom to chant whatever they want to drive their story

>thinks that people will shout Abracadabra Doo as a wizard without getting reported

>below low standards

Hold to that thought, you'll probably see an answer in the next response.

 

Yes, you may be tired of the puns, but there are other people who aren't. I do not think it is fair for you to be the one to consider when we should stop enjoying a joke. Some of these are also very reaching - I have no idea what BIRUZ BENNAR is referencing. I get what poly'cracata is doing - but I mean, it's such a minor gag. Is humor itself in all forms a violation of HRP? Are we not allowed to smile or enjoy moments of levity?

You seem believe that we are restricting the fun and want for us to remain static fun in your opinion. I am not tired of puns, though you can see me making puns once a while on discord. I'll axe you a question, what if I told you that this is a way for wizards to breed more fun and puns? There are people who knows how to make fun for the round. The thing is that the wizard gibberish chants doesn't drive or influence the round that this is a suggestion to create it. Let's be honest, Jackboot. You and I have a goal of making fun for the round but we have different outlook of how a suggestion can be fun for the round.

[NoahKirchner]

"EXPLOOOOSION"

please excuse the reference, I am deeply ashamed I assure you.

Anyways, this'd be neat just to fit in with gimmicks.

[ajstorey456]

Is there no room just to have a "leave blank for default" for everyone who does want to keep the old castings? This doesn't have to be mandatory, does it?

[UnknownMurder]

Is there no room just to have a "leave blank for default" for everyone who does want to keep the old castings? This doesn't have to be mandatory, does it?

 

This appears to be a good compromise for those who wants to keep old castings in.

[Pacmandevil]

That doesn't make it inconsistent. The spells themselves never change words.

Just what spells people use.

 

What. You are not making sense here. Let me try to get us on the same page. We are not changing the spells to a whole new system. To be specific, I am not requesting for a change from fireball to Avada Kedavra. The only proposed is to allow players chant their magic word instead of incoherent things that no understands.

Yes, and that makes the as it is now consistent spells, inconsistent by letting players choose the word said.

[NoahKirchner]

What. You are not making sense here. Let me try to get us on the same page. We are not changing the spells to a whole new system. To be specific, I am not requesting for a change from fireball to Avada Kedavra. The only proposed is to allow players chant their magic word instead of incoherent things that no understands.

Yes, and that makes the as it is now consistent spells, inconsistent by letting players choose the word said.

 

Good, players dont know about magic anyways so it's not like it's something that needs to remain consistent.

[Butterrobber202]

"EXPLOOOOSION"

please excuse the reference, I am deeply ashamed I assure you.

Anyways, this'd be neat just to fit in with gimmicks.

imagine watching that show >

u pervert

[MoondancerPony]

As it stands, I don't see an issue with this suggestion. The argument of "consistency" when it comes to spell words makes no sense; even when word research for cult was still a thing, they weren't consistent. Besides, why does it matter that the arbitrary nonsense or reference words are the same between rounds? Most of the time they're whispered, like with knock and other stealthy spells, so I don't see how it would matter, anyway.

In fact, chaplains can already make their own religion and religious texts, so this has precedent in mechanics.

And please, stop with the non-sequiturs in suggestions. It's immature, and we should all try to be better than that. That goes for Pacman, Noah, and Butter. Don't derail threads, and don't just say "I like/dislike this" without providing constructive feedback. There is no need for feedbackless plus or minus ones, because the quality of the suggestion and the reasoning behind it are what I try to take into account, not the number of posts.

I'll see how they're currently handled when I get home before I commit to anything, but as it stands this seems like a trivial addition that I'd be happy to implement, barring any objections from other devs or staff.

[Azande]

if people make spells like 'Fuckus Offus Secus' for shit like magic missile I assume staff will deal?

[UnknownMurder]

if people make spells like 'Fuckus Offus Secus' for shit like magic missile I assume staff will deal?

 

If people chants the same as "Fuckus Offus Secus", staff will deal. Essentially, the obvious retarded thing like that quote will be dealt with by staffs.