Another idea for ritual magic:  Add to the play based economy.  For example, if I want to buy several healing potions, then I have to find a mage who has learned the ritual magic to create said potion, and pay him for that potion.  Add to that the idea the only ritual magic can create magic items, including wands/books etc.  So a magic user would have to buy his magic from the ritual user in the same way a fighter needs to purchase weapons and repair them.  This could be a very effective means to improve cash flow.  Once the system is correctly implemented, then items such as healing potions can be reduced, or even eliminated, from the loot drops and improve the entire player based economy.

Of course, this is just spewing out as the ideas occur, and aside from the creating stuff with ritual magic, has no business whatsoever in this thread

Just reading the thread, and it strikes me that it would be (If a sounds package were implemented) a simple enough task (Well, simple in comparison with other things) to set up a parameters file where the "speakers" data was included and the frequency adjusted accordingly.  3 figures in XML (Frequency - 100k-10000k, Speed - don't know offhand the required hertz, and "inflection" - How various sounds get stressed) and a minor recoding of the audio output engine for the sounds.  Well, ok then, a major audio editing module tacked onto the client     But the actual implementation should be feasible.

Just a random thought bubbling out of the abyss of my mind