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A few in game questions


Adrian
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So long as the professors don't notice it, you can get away with just about anything. *hint^

 

It cant' be bulky or make noise, so some light leather seems the most appropriate without some extreme costs involved..

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This month, the Team completed testing and remediation efforts on the complete gameflow from the Region selection to entry to Battle, including Campaign, Fleet Selection and Weather, but many more areas remain undone, including Battle itself. Additionally, the Team has expanded by three, in order to provide immediate expertise on specific problems we're facing.

1) This means VB now affect the development speed of the other games of BC or did you recruit 3 new people? (No you can't answer with simply yes or no ^^)

@AscartandNew Modtools will come with or after year 2 and not earlier.

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Oh oh cruel Schwarzbart. For a second I thought this quote was about year 2. I was what witchery is this ?? Actual infos on the game, this cannot be !

And it wasn't. :( 

Oh well good to know that at least the VB team knows what dev diary means. Maybe they can spare some staff after they release the game. We're starving around here.

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This talk of hiding armor under your clothing got me curious. It seems even chainmail is sort of noisy although apparently the japanese used a method with patches of chainmail sewn in between two layers of clothing which could be rather silent.

This got me thinking about our fair world of Academagia. Enchanting weaponry and armor would be a way to make an army more effective without requiring costly wizards on the direct payroll. So:

1. Would enchanting clothing to be about as impenetrable as chainmail or even platemail be doable? Very difficult? Costly?

2. Does the material used have a large impact on what's possible to add in magical protectiveness?

3. Do armies make use of enchanted weapons or armor on a wide scale or is it too expensive/rare?

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It's certainly possible to enchant armor to do better than it's material would suggest (though I've no idea whether said material has a large impact on what's possible...), but enchanting an army worth of armor would be prohibitively expensive to both create and maintain. I'm pretty sure that'd rapidly reach an X-Com situation where you're throwing a soldier in front of a tank to take the hit, because at the end of the day the solider is cheaper than the tank and both don't take plasma to the face very well (though neither do aliens take tank shots to the face very well, or more frequently the broad side of the barn they're standing in front of).

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15 minutes ago, Metis said:

It's certainly possible to enchant armor to do better than it's material would suggest (though I've no idea whether said material has a large impact on what's possible...), but enchanting an army worth of armor would be prohibitively expensive to both create and maintain. I'm pretty sure that'd rapidly reach an X-Com situation where you're throwing a soldier in front of a tank to take the hit, because at the end of the day the solider is cheaper than the tank and both don't take plasma to the face very well (though neither do aliens take tank shots to the face very well, or more frequently the broad side of the barn they're standing in front of).

Sure, but maintenance wouldn't be such an issue with good enchants that lasts decades (centuries?). Probably still too expensive to put on everyone, but on an elite guard or officers perhaps.

Making armor tougher than the material would suggest can mean a lot of different things though. Twice the strength of normal clothing won't stop a knife.
Something like transforming your cloth into spider silk, however... It's elastic and tougher than kevlar.

Theoretically you could use magic for the fabrication process, so it wouldn't expire like an enchantment might. Basically use magic to guide and modify spiders to produce lots and lots of silk and weave a nice bullet-proof vest. Perhaps with an enchantment on afterwards for good measure.

It makes one wonder how powerful a trained assassin garbed in magical artifacts could be.

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Good enchantments that last so long cost, though, and ones that don't shatter like cheap glass in front of a Negation mage cost more still. There's also the fact that lots can go wrong on a battlefield. You can probably enchant a suit of leather armor to stop a cannonball for a decade and some change, but that doesn't automatically mean it can't catch fire...I think.

The spider idea could almost certainly work. There's a spell ingame that mentions magic being used to (accidentally?) breed a group of talking birds, so even if people don't entirely understand the process it could work.

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1. Would enchanting clothing to be about as impenetrable as chainmail or even platemail be doable? Very difficult? Costly?

It's certainly possible, but the costs of the enchantment are very high- the skill and expertise needed to make it last is the problem.

2. Does the material used have a large impact on what's possible to add in magical protectiveness?

Theoretically, no, but practically it's easier to do it if the material is already inclined to the purpose.

3. Do armies make use of enchanted weapons or armor on a wide scale or is it too expensive/rare?

Far too expensive for general use. But it has happened in the past that through careful preparation items were available for critical battles.

4. Is there any kind of "fantasy" metal like mithril in the setting ? Are they natural or are there magical alloy ? Both I presume.

Nothing like mithril, but there are indeed alloys which can only be formed through the use of magic.

5. What group is the most famed for crafting the best armour/weapons ? Dwarves ? Mages ? Villocian ?

This is fairly difficult, as certain groups are renowned for their skills with more specific items. It's not a blanket answer.

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1. In the past, was Mastery used in a lethal capacity? Did people use it to force folks to have heart attacks and things of that nature? If so, was that common enough to suspect foul play if somebody died in a similar fashion?

2. Are there any famous Mastery mages from the past Beside Kazus that are well known even despite the active suppression of history? Kind of like how Schohanwicht was noted as being a known name despite everything?

3. Are vampires noted as being capable to eat real food, (even if they don't get any benefit from it apart from enjoyment) or are they limited solely to blood in this setting? (Would they vomit it up if they tried?)

4. Would it be easier to Incant an object exactly the way you want it? (with every detail) or just to Incant the basic object and Revise all the details into it? (assuming you had the skills for both)

5. Theoretically, if the Incant+Revision option above was more desirable for any reason, would it be possible to combine the two spells into one? And if so how would this be different (Phemetically speaking :) ) from a pure Incantation approach.

6. If a way of combining Incant+Revision in the manner question 5 proposes was found, even if it turned out more complex than a pure incantation (or even pure Revision) route, would that be desirable for overall powerful mages who were somewhat lacking in both of those pillars due to the relative simplicity of the phemes needed to cast the combined spell? Am I making sense here?

7. As I'm not in Avila, and didn't take any Astrology classes in Y1, (and might not in Y2, depending) What would Professor Badcrumble do if I hunted her down and asked a question about one of the more technical aspects of a Y2 Astrology skill in Y2? Would she be at least a little bit curious about this? Even if she knew that I was aiming for being an omni-disciplinarian thanks to all the professor's legendary gossip skills wouldn't that still be unusual enough for her to pause a bit?

8. Would the kind of question question 7 proposes be considered to be learning magic too advanced for you, since you haven't taken any classes on the subject and it isn't at all your expected 'specialization'? Or if you could prove that you indeed knew the Y1 material cold and the Y2 material decently they wouldn't care?

9. Does the expectations that professor Aventyrare won't last at the Academagia lie in the idea that she's going to get fired for her "flashyness" Or is it that they expect her more to lose her enthusiasm in the conservative atmosphere of the school and quit? A little bit of both?

10. I already know it's going to be damn near impossible to pull this off just based on how hard it is to do in Y1, and the hints about how Y2 is going to function, *BUT* if a person could hypothetically learn all of the legal magical related skills in Y2 to their unextended soft skill caps, would that student then become a subject beyond merely keeping an eye on?

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Free;

1. In the past, was Mastery used in a lethal capacity? Did people use it to force folks to have heart attacks and things of that nature? If so, was that common enough to suspect foul play if somebody died in a similar fashion?

You already know this, but...YES. :)

2. Are there any famous Mastery mages from the past Beside Kazus that are well known even despite the active suppression of history? Kind of like how Schohanwicht was noted as being a known name despite everything?

As Schwarzbart notes. :)

3. Are vampires noted as being capable to eat real food, (even if they don't get any benefit from it apart from enjoyment) or are they limited solely to blood in this setting? (Would they vomit it up if they tried?)

They could mechanically ingest it, but would vomit it up then or later.

4. Would it be easier to Incant an object exactly the way you want it? (with every detail) or just to Incant the basic object and Revise all the details into it? (assuming you had the skills for both)

The question isn't only skill, it's also the Ideals you have access to. If you had all the right Ideals, it would be easier to Incant.

5. Theoretically, if the Incant+Revision option above was more desirable for any reason, would it be possible to combine the two spells into one? And if so how would this be different (Phemetically speaking :) ) from a pure Incantation approach.

Of course, this is what a Palette does, in fact. ;)

It's not the Phemes, though, but the Ideals.

6. If a way of combining Incant+Revision in the manner question 5 proposes was found, even if it turned out more complex than a pure incantation (or even pure Revision) route, would that be desirable for overall powerful mages who were somewhat lacking in both of those pillars due to the relative simplicity of the phemes needed to cast the combined spell? Am I making sense here?

Yes, but only from a Y1 perspective. As you will see, there's more to Spells than that. :)

7. As I'm not in Avila, and didn't take any Astrology classes in Y1, (and might not in Y2, depending) What would Professor Badcrumble do if I hunted her down and asked a question about one of the more technical aspects of a Y2 Astrology skill in Y2? Would she be at least a little bit curious about this? Even if she knew that I was aiming for being an omni-disciplinarian thanks to all the professor's legendary gossip skills wouldn't that still be unusual enough for her to pause a bit?

You'll have to try it. :)

8. Would the kind of question question 7 proposes be considered to be learning magic too advanced for you, since you haven't taken any classes on the subject and it isn't at all your expected 'specialization'? Or if you could prove that you indeed knew the Y1 material cold and the Y2 material decently they wouldn't care?

Depending on the Professor, it's likely they wouldn't mind.

9. Does the expectations that professor Aventyrare won't last at the Academagia lie in the idea that she's going to get fired for her "flashyness" Or is it that they expect her more to lose her enthusiasm in the conservative atmosphere of the school and quit? A little bit of both?

You'll have to ask them. :)

10. I already know it's going to be damn near impossible to pull this off just based on how hard it is to do in Y1, and the hints about how Y2 is going to function, *BUT* if a person could hypothetically learn all of the legal magical related skills in Y2 to their unextended soft skill caps, would that student then become a subject beyond merely keeping an eye on?

Probably no active intervention would take place in that scenario.

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I'm being serious. I genuinely would like to know why wanting to be an omni-disciplinarian is considered a bad thing to be avoided in setting.

Failing that, I'd like to ask you about the Y2 class list. If you can't tell it to us yet, I think the Team could at least tell us when. I'm not looking for a date even, just a "Oh, when we reach this point, we'll do it" comment. Isn't the class list finalized yet?

I'm asking these questions again because I'm hoping for a new detail on these things. I've been good. Mostly. I haven't pestered you every day on this, despite my constant urging to do so. I just don't understand why you are keeping sooooo much secret, expecially since we've been waiting for so long.

If nothing else, with a straight face, can you at least say that the team has a plan to make the wait for Y3 more bearable than Y2 has been?

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1. How easy is it to use revision magic to change weapons into less harmful things (i.e., swords into stalks of grain)?

2. Are better quality weapons imbued with negation magic in order to protect them from such transformations?

3. Is it common in Academagia for parents to pressure their children to choose one college over another?

4. Related to #3, are some colleges seen as better by the aristocracy in terms of providing appropriate environments and curricula?

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On 2, as a general rule I think people are more concerned about Revision being used to turn their bones to jelly more so than their swords being turned into stalks of grain. Protecting enchanted items against Negations is nevertheless a part of Enchanting, both in theory and in practice, though.

On 4, Vernin is the stereotypical aristocrat's/rich kid's college, although exactly why I don't recall off-hand. I believe a tradition that dates back to control over land, if memories from years back serve me correctly? *Shrugs*.

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