SWmud

The Great Rebalance of 2020

Changelog for the April 2020 rebalance:

    GEAR

• WC (weapon class) now extends up to 50 for all weapon types. WC was previously capped at 19 (melee), 23 (ranged), or 33 (sabers).
• Generally, WC should correspond to level - both for mobs and for players. If you kill a mob roughly in your level, you will get a weapon roughly appropriate for you.
• Looking at a weapon will give you more information on its quality relative to your level.
• There are no longer any multi-stat weapons - but there are more weapons for different stats.
• A variety of new weapons and special armors have been added.
• Gear will be found in level-appropriate areas (see <panic planets> and the AREA section below).
• Gear is generally going to be on mobs that "matter" in the area - named mobs, mobs that seem like they're in charge, etc.
• Some existing armors and weapons have been relocated or adjusted.
• Almost all mobs that used to have good gear will still have good gear, but it might not be the same gear or for the same gear level as before.
• Certain weapons that are wielded by many mobs of different levels have been split into tiers with different appearances, to better distinguish low level and high level variants.
• For example, we now have: E-11, E-11d, E-11s, E-11t, and E-11x blaster rifles, depending on the level of the mob wielding it.
• Saber colors now have 5 variations instead of 3. (see <panic saber_colors>)
• Because of this, many sabers will have different colors - but the quality of the saber will be appropriate for the mob that wields it.
• Event weapons now spawn slightly under the purchasing player's level - they will be good weapons, but they will not be the best weapon for the player.
• Juryrigged weapons may now only be wielded by level 25+ smugglers. AREA
• Areas have been re-distributed among various level ranges, to provide a more consistent leveling experience and a sense of progression.
• This means that many former lowbie areas are now much more difficult. Please check <panic planets> to see the new level ranges.
• Useful consumables and PK items have been placed in additional locations as a result of this rebalancing, to ensure players of appropriate level can continue to access them.
• Bounties, subdues, and assassin jobs have been moved around.
• Some quest mobs (especially for the Jedi Master quest) have been moved around.
• Bespin Towers revamped. Numerous fixes and updates. Explore with care.
• The Tusken Raider area on Tatooine has been revamped.
• The first aid quest out of the simulator has been removed.
• All newbie simulator entry restrictions have been removed.
• HM thumbs no longer work in certain high-level, closed-off areas.
• If you don't know how to get out of certain areas without signaling, you should be ready to do some exploring.
• Corellia Platform shuttle has been moved to a more appropriate location.
• Nar Shaddaa has been closed for renovations.
• Jubilar has also been closed. COMBAT/MOBS
• Every damage tier in the game (tickle, graze, cut, etc.) has been expanded to accommodate higher damage numbers. See <panic damage> for further details.
• The formula to determine monster hit point and experience values has been reworked.
• The new formula balances mobs to be more rewarding to defeat, and less tanky overall.
• Due to higher available WC, many mobs will deal more damage.
• More difficult monsters will also be more rewarding to fight, awarding higher experience compared to a less difficult monster of a similar level.
• Certain mobs are designated as "elite" mobs - they will have more HP, more damage, and more rewards. There is a further (very rare) "boss" mob tier. Using <consider> will give you valuable feedback.
• Mobs making use of certain skills (disable, for example) are worth more experience.
• All damage-over-time effects (fire, tear, etc.) can now stack any number of times.
• Wimpy activates immediately after a combat round where the player falls below wimpy.
• Poison damage has received a general rework.
• Poison now displays a message when it damages you, and when it wears off.
• Poison bottles now deal level-appropriate amounts of poison and do not automatically scale their damage with player level. Higher level players should seek more potent poisons to o'er-crow their opponents' spirits.
• All sources of poison have been rebalanced.
• Following monster mechanics have been reworked.
• Mob follow is now a skill that uses a monster's skill delay, and displays a message when activated.
• Certain follow-stopping skills provide an additional short buffer of follow-prevention. Durations of the buffer vary from skill to skill.
• All mobs have at least one combat skill (punch if nothing else).
• Mobs will no longer react by picking up bombs and handing them to players.
• Mobs will now consider all exits when attempting to retaliate.
• Weapon and armor special messages will be filtered out by brief-mode combat. EXPERIENCE/LEVELING
• The distinction between HM and mortal experience has been removed.
• Players no longer need to treaty when mixing HM and mortals in parties.
• Added a cap on the exp a player can receive at one time, based on level.
• <consider> will inform you if you won't get full exp for a mob.
• The cap is removed at level 40.
• This is intended to prevent extreme power leveling - the cap should be near-impossible to reach as a solo player. Please let us know if you run into any issues hitting the cap in a scenario you feel is inappropriate.
• Experience buffs/debuffs now only apply to mob kills, not quest rewards.
• There is no longer a prime level requirement to initially advance in Jedi. RULES
• The MUD secret policy has been reworked to be less restrictive and clearer to understand.
• The questban law punishment has been removed from the game. MISCELLANEOUS
• Panic files for the following have filtering built into them now:
• areas [level]; planets, planets2, secret_list [planet]; caretakers [coder]
• Planetary panic files now list the sub-areas, secret lists, and caretaker.
• Players with old-style HM Beepers will automatically be converted to Electronic Thumbs, which now work with old-style HM homes.
• Decay has been changed to work on the weapon/armor mods system.
• Droids will no longer remain registered on logout. Players will need to re-register their owned droids each login.
• Droids can no longer be dismissed from areas that are blocked from HM shuttling.
• The temporary High Mortal quest has been replaced by a slightly different temporary quest. :)
• High mortals' means of access to Outpost 13 and Wayland have changed slightly. HMs can check with their friendly local Cabbie for details.
• All players will receive a new character slot - for free!