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Wish list / Re: Eliminate all 'mental' stats from the game.
« on: August 13, 2007, 10:37:09 pm »
I actually like this idea. At least changing them to get rid of such vague things as charisma and intelligence. Could probably be replaced by stuff like concentration (Might be too vague too), or, for charisma, some kind of "Sense", the ability to read into things in a different way, say a third eye kind of thing.
Biggest problem I see is the fact that charisma and intelligence are situational, and kind of hard to "boost".
I'll simply use Unnamed as an example here (No offense unnamed, you just happened to be right here): Even if he played a character that had a high charisma stat, I wouldn't want to do what he says, simply because I consider him rude and unwilling to listen to other people's opinions. But I bet you there is some people out there who would prefer someone who believes so strongly in themselves to take charge, who won't take "no" for an answer.
And intelligence is pretty similar, some are good at seeing how mechanical things work, others may be better at planning out troop movements. In some cases it's even hard to separate intelligence and charisma.
I would likely fail at playing a high charisma character, as I'm bad at figuring other people out, and tend to stay quiet until I have something to say. And it doesn't really matter if the game tells me I have low or high charisma, I'm simply not sure if I am charismatic or not. Most people would probably say I'm not, but some people I could probably deal with better than a charismatic person.
In opposition, physical traits are much more rigid, where strength would usually be something along muscle mass, a more muscular person can lift more, with some difference in technique, which might actually fit well under agility, whith things like balance, flexibility, precision and speed. Endurance depends on what you use it for, in some games they toss some muscular properties here instead, like how much you can lift (heaving a boulder 10 meters versus carrying a bag of potatoes to the next town), but generally it governs aerobic ability (How well you can keep your muscles oxygenated while running for example), and often how much damage you can take.
Therefore, I think it's better to just toss intelligence and charisma out and replace them with something else. There will be complications, but I think the end result will be better. And, no, it should not mean that someone gets some incredible bonus to magic just because they are smarter, like someone seemed to interpret it.
Biggest problem I see is the fact that charisma and intelligence are situational, and kind of hard to "boost".
I'll simply use Unnamed as an example here (No offense unnamed, you just happened to be right here): Even if he played a character that had a high charisma stat, I wouldn't want to do what he says, simply because I consider him rude and unwilling to listen to other people's opinions. But I bet you there is some people out there who would prefer someone who believes so strongly in themselves to take charge, who won't take "no" for an answer.
And intelligence is pretty similar, some are good at seeing how mechanical things work, others may be better at planning out troop movements. In some cases it's even hard to separate intelligence and charisma.
I would likely fail at playing a high charisma character, as I'm bad at figuring other people out, and tend to stay quiet until I have something to say. And it doesn't really matter if the game tells me I have low or high charisma, I'm simply not sure if I am charismatic or not. Most people would probably say I'm not, but some people I could probably deal with better than a charismatic person.
In opposition, physical traits are much more rigid, where strength would usually be something along muscle mass, a more muscular person can lift more, with some difference in technique, which might actually fit well under agility, whith things like balance, flexibility, precision and speed. Endurance depends on what you use it for, in some games they toss some muscular properties here instead, like how much you can lift (heaving a boulder 10 meters versus carrying a bag of potatoes to the next town), but generally it governs aerobic ability (How well you can keep your muscles oxygenated while running for example), and often how much damage you can take.
Therefore, I think it's better to just toss intelligence and charisma out and replace them with something else. There will be complications, but I think the end result will be better. And, no, it should not mean that someone gets some incredible bonus to magic just because they are smarter, like someone seemed to interpret it.