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Originally posted by Moogie
That would be uninspiring, uninventive, and unoriginal. Just like every other magic system in every other game out there.

It\'s fun to have a unique system where you actually have to use your brain and figure out the puzzle. Trial and error, experimentation, success and failure. Learning magic is a challenge... it\'s an art... it\'s something to be proud of when you finally figure out the complex glyph combination of a spell which will make you all-powerful.

Well the idea is far from unique, I seen this concept implimenet in a couple CRPGs in the last 15 years and a few Pen & Paper RPGs also have implimented. I also have one with me that has a very similar magic system that is at least 20 years old already.

The idea may be far from unique but is being proposed is even farther from unique.

I hate the story with the thief because to tell you the truth, a thief can steal a bow and arrows, and a sword and a shield etc... it is a bad example.

in any case I like the glyph system much more than a magic "skill"

if you are going to propose something I think you should propose something you don't see often, I mean sure combining glyphs may not be original, but if you were to pick any random mmorpg, chances are you will probably see magic "skills"  not glyphs.

On that note... something I haven't seen often is magic requiring  a physical effort. My two cents are based on the Harry Potter game (it sux except for the spell learning system. When you start the game you don't know any spells. The instructor shows you a shape and you have to trace it as best as you can in the least amount of time. The first one (expel.... something) is a simple spiral. and you get graded on your accuracy and speed. I think this can be used as part of the spell casting system. It would be really nice if you could integrate it with the glyph system though... for example: The power of the spell is determined by your accuracy in tracing the figure, the speed it takes you to cast the spell is determined by the speed with which you trace the figure, and ofcourse, the glyphs determine what kind of magic skills you must posess to cast the spell (Red Crystal, Dark, Arure, Brown, and eh... Blue?). You could go back and trace the spell over and over to make it more powerful and faster, or you could let it slowly adjust with time by raising your magic skills. Now that must be a lot to implement, but it is just an idea, and it is a rare find. (I won't call it original to save the "it's not original" phrases from piling up)

EDIT: you would need physical stamina to trace the shape of the spell. The heavier the item you're holding, the more physical stamina you need to cast the spell, so bear handed would turn out to be the best.

WARNING: I have not been playing for more than a week, and it is getting late over here so my ideas might go hayewire (did I spell that right?), but I have read the wishlist rules.

Well... if you want a revolutionary idea, there are only three things that I haven't seen sugested in this thread yet:

Submarine Creatures - Maybe something along the lines of fish, or perhaps more along the line of serpents. It would be VERY hard to hold your breath for a long amount of time, but there are ways to tie that in. For one, there could be an amphibious race, or the submarine creature could have a "bubble" which could hold the player inside (wierd idea, but it would actually make it even more unique), or the creature would be rather fast, but the rider would have to hold his/her breath... If you're interested, I have more ideas, but it would make the post into a rant if I wrote all of them.
Pros:

• Entirely revolutionary - I have played a lot of other MMORPGs, and I have yet to see a submarine creature of any kind other than fish. (By the way, thumbs up to the PlaneShift dev team for the crafting system, no other free 3D MMORPG has such a system! )
• Opens up a door to a big submarine world and port cities - I think this would make gameplay very unique since physics in water is entirely different than physics on dry land. The world might be easy to model, but the physics might bitte, then again, I have no idea
• (I think) much less hastle in navigating the transport, assuming you can travel on, or below the surface of the water.

Cons:

• It would be very bad for gameplay unless there was an underwater universe. Such a world would have to mave some sea creatures, and maybe a submarine town (I have a seperate idea for that)
• A surfacing mechanism, a docking mechanism, and a cargo loading/unloading mechanism would have to be present.
• Waves for when you go above water...
• It might just be too hard to implement in such a way so as to provide good gameplay

Marine Creatures - Ones that float on water, and maybe even walk on land... very slow on land though... like... turtles, but maybe a more unique shape.
Almost the same pros and cons as the submarine creatures... it would be a good idea to have huge seas or lakes, and a few islands if you plan to implement practically ANY sea creatures on or below water. Which may or may not be hard to do.

Subterrain Creatures - I'm not sure about this one... but you couldn't ride it under ground, you could only lead it from above ground. It would be a cargo creature.
Pros:

• Not much to implement, maybe a mound that moves around behind you to represent the creature following you around, and perhaps a script for the creature popping up for you to load and unload cargo.
• You could add unique features such as the creature actually finding ores as it moves below ground, or it could even help you battle.

Cons:

• Mainly a con for the players: You can't have it follow you through mountainous or rocky terrain, I mean, how do you expect it to keep up with you?
• I'm not exactly sure if the surfacing would be hard to implement or not.
• You would have to leave it outside of town because you wouldn't want to ruin the pavement when it surfaces.

And then if none of those ideas are to your liking...
Giant Fleas -  heh, Might sound strange, but who says that crawling, walking, and running are the only ways to get around? We've all heard of fleas, those little bugs that jump... eh... FAR for their size... wouldn't that be a sweet ground-based transport or what? Hey, it could have disfunctional wings too which do nothing except give it the ability to glide. Theres room for it to become a cargo creature as well, with such powerfull legs, when you weigh it down it will move like a rabbit, one small hop at a time... or like a dinosaur, one heavy step at a time... whichever... And it doesn't have to look as good as a flea either 

Well... that's my 4 cents on the subject.

Eh... I'll take a look tomorrow to check if there is anything I should change or organize, but I had to jot the ideas down or I would lose them in my sleep