Seems like an "obvious" suggestion, but couldn't find it on search, so here goes.

I think that each level for each skill should have stat level prerequisites to be able to get training from an NPC, which go up as skill levels do. For example, you should need more strength to learn the more advanced techniques of axe combat. Even just learning advanced dagger handling should require high agility, otherwise you can't even practice those skills. When you try to train without the prerequisite skill, the trainer would say something like, "Well, I can teach it, but you don't look like you have the dexterity needed for these advanced lessons. Come back a little later, when you're more agile."

Some skills would require a combination of stats: swords would be a medium-dexterity and -strength skill, for example, and blacksmith requires agility (to control the hammer blows) and intelligence (to determine where to strike with the hammer); you don't really need strength, you can compensate with more hammering.

I don't know any details of how the skills system is coded so I don't know how much extra complexity this would be for the coding team, but I think it would bring another level of complexity and (I hope) interest to the skills progression system.

Like the title says. If you're frustrated about the mobs not fighting back (you probably have a disease like believing in fair play, or maybe are also training armor skills like me), try this: cast an offensive spell at them, wait until you're attacked, then start attacking yourself. You'll be at a disadvantage in that you'll get hit once or twice without getting to retaliate, but so far it's been foolproof in getting mobs to attack me. Just to make sure, I tried attacking the creature in melee directly, without using magic first, would not get attacked even once.

By the by, it's unclear to me whether the creature needs to have hit you, or if a dodged attempt is good enough; I'm still getting hit every time, so I haven't been able to test it.

Granted, I don't know exactly how damage is calculated and therefore a Warhammer might deal more damage per hit than a Battle Hammer in the hands of the same character, but it seems that the damage dealt would be equal, and the Battle Hammer is ~17% faster (2.50 vs 3.00)

Hope this is in the right place....

A lot of the steep slopes in the game slow my character to a crawl when going down them. Going up them is impossible, since they're too steep. But going down, the animation switches to walking (even if I had run on at the time), and the actual movement speed is even slower than that. Reaching the end of the steep portion where my character then resumes moving normally I receive a health hit as if I had fallen the vertical height of the segment. Which makes sense, since my character should be falling down these segments. I don't mind the damage, but is there anything I can do to my client to fix the issue? I've searched the forums and the bugtracker and my search isn't pulling anything so I wonder if this is isolated to my client.

Mac OSX client, Intel MacBook Pro, OS 10.4

Is this normal? How is the power evaluation determined? Does it have anything to do with the fact that I'm wielding hand-crafted weapons?

I don't really know where this goes, I'm guessing here since this would be where people interested in helping newbs would hang out. I've asked for help using /advisor a few times, once there weren't any at all the other times I simply never got an answer, though in all cases I eventually got my problem licked, usually with some help from the IRC channel. I have recently taken to volunteering myself as an advisor, and from what I've been hearing from my advisees there really aren't that many around. I suspect some of this may be that advisor mode is reset every connection, but I think most of it is simply that people don't bother to turn it on in the first place. So I come here with a petition to all of you: go ahead and type /advisormode on, and help out where you can. It's nothing that you don't already do here, except you'll be reaching more people (most people won't register a forum account for a simple question).