Two suggested TRAIT revisions

Blue_Manta · Post by **Blue_Manta** » July 17th, 2006, 10:43 pm

1. Allow trait duplication. Effects:

Five new potential trait profiles created: double strong,double dextrous,double intelligent,double quick and double resilient.
= greater unit and tactic variety, as per intended effect of traits.
Does not complicate Wesnoth; traits/units function as they did before.
Flavour unaffected.
Game balance? what about double quick lancers? double resilient trolls?
I think this is ok, and part of the appeal. It is still only one unit, which you need to integrate into an army which is now more varied. Further, as a unit gains twice in one trait, it loses twice in all the others.

What may help to balance/augment the above:

2. Units get one trait at level 0/1. Units get second trait on reaching level 2

Compared to suggestion 1 this would be a (con) non trivial change: quite possibly upsets game balance (con) and (against philosophy?) puts emphasis on individual development. (con)
pros: Enriched playing experience, complexity/flavour unaffected.
the second trait will make promotion decisions more interesting. More importantly (to me as a player) it creates a sense of 'character development'.... a sense of 'getting to know' your unit through it's 'rite of passage' er... in short... this change would help stimulate the imagination. It's a tentative suggestion...for a small change... but IMO providing many such 'hooks', encouraging the player's imaginative involvement is one of the keys to a good fantasy game.

First post...hello... and many thanks for Wesnoth

Post by **Viliam** » July 17th, 2006, 11:39 pm

The double loyal units require upkeep 2 gold regardless of their level. And double undead units are twice as immune against poison.

The suggestion sounds interesting, but I am afraid those "double strong" melee fighters, "double quick" scouts, etc would be a bit overpowered. Although if this happens less than once per scenario, the results would not be so bad.

Adding a second trait later would make some traits more useful than others. For example "strong" is good for any unit level, but receiving "intelligent" on the 2nd level is a bit late.

Stilgar · Post by **Stilgar** » July 18th, 2006, 12:46 am

#1 will almost certainly never happen. As I recall, the game did behave this way for a short while once, and it was treated as a bug.

#2 sounds more reasonable, but I also think it (like most proposals regarding traits) is unlikely to be accepted.

scott · Post by **scott** » July 18th, 2006, 1:06 am

The second idea sounds pretty cool. However, it looks like it would increase the power difference between L2 and L1 units, and that's not necessarily good... but the effect would probably be tiny.

JW · Post by JW » July 18th, 2006, 2:07 am

#2 would be neat, but Default would have to be rebalanced as Undead would become more powerful (no loss of traits at level 1).

ILikeProgramming · Post by **ILikeProgramming** » July 18th, 2006, 3:11 am

I like #1 more.

The second one would mean units I recruit will have less variey.

toms · Post by **toms** » July 18th, 2006, 5:42 am

Double-strong fencers (duelists!), Double dextrous Elvish Archers, Double -resilent Dwarvish Guardsmen, Double-intelligent Troll Whelps, Double-quick Riders

Yes, that sounds all nice.

And because of the low chance of appearing, probably only one unit will get the luck of a double trait, unbalancing the game.

JW · Post by JW » July 18th, 2006, 6:13 am

toms wrote:Double-intelligent Troll Whelps

That would be insane, considering that Trolls can't even get Intelligent currently!!

Post by **Zhukov** » July 18th, 2006, 6:14 am

#1 looks unbalancing to me, but I'm no expert.

#2 has promise...but I struggle to see the point.

Cuyo Quiz · Post by **Cuyo Quiz** » July 18th, 2006, 3:50 pm

JW wrote:
toms wrote:Double-intelligent Troll Whelps
That would be insane, considering that Trolls can't even get Intelligent currently!!

Damn, i was outpaced by you.

Kel · Post by **Kel** » July 19th, 2006, 12:50 am

Look, I just want to smash things with my 7-4 double-strong Elvish Fighter.

Post by **Kestenvarn** » July 19th, 2006, 1:40 am

#2 would be especially good if it could be tied to specific units for campaigns.

Sort of an in-between for a hero and a npc, like Moremiru.

Post by **Noy** » July 19th, 2006, 2:56 am

Dibble is there any reason why you chose not to post under your real account? Does it have anything to do with the fact that you knew that we'd say no to such a ridiculously unbalancing proposal, or that we've already nixed it?

Post by **Zhukov** » July 19th, 2006, 4:09 am

Blue_Manata = Dibblethewrecker

appleide · Post by **appleide** » July 19th, 2006, 4:19 am

Noy wrote:Dibble is there any reason why you chose not to post under your real account? Does it have anything to do with the fact that you knew that we'd say no to such a ridiculously unbalancing proposal, or that we've already nixed it?

It could be... his cousin stole his ip address.