I am open to all critiques. I won’t be offended. Just make sure to add an explanation if you hate it and how you would fix it. Same thing if you absolutely adore it, let me know what is your favorite part and why.
My idea is that we open up our spell book and there is a new page. I would call it something like minion options or something simple like that. What you could do there is look at your minions spells and switch them out. You can also tell your minion to prioritize things.
So let’s say, for example purposes only, that I look at my Sprite Guardian and I want it to only be a healer with no attacking spells, traps or spirit armor. I take the spells I have gotten as a life wizard and with the 4 open slots that I opened up by taking spells out, I can put in any other 4 life spells that are under 4 pips. 4 pips because that is the highest amount of pip cost of any of its original spells, that one spell in this case would be satyr. If I had a Sir Bedevere, I could put any spells that have an X value or any spells up to 7 pips. This way a minion isn't completely overpowered.
The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities. Because I want my Sprite Guardian to be a healer, I would click the heal option. There might also be a attack option, blade and trap option, shield option, exc. After I click heal, there would be buttons saying things similar to lowest health/max health, lowest health, self (as in the minions self), summoner (AKA, you), exc. I want it to heal the wizard with the least amount of health compared to their max amount of health so I would pick lowest health/max health.
This page would allow your minion to make semi-intellectual choices without you controlling it directly. I feel it would be a great addition to the game to those that are myth wizards or just wizards that like using their minions a lot. (Like me)
Too much? Too little? Too bias to a specific school over another? Too cheap? Other comments? Let me know, I won’t bite.
I am open to all critiques. I won’t be offended. Just make sure to add an explanation if you hate it and how you would fix it. Same thing if you absolutely adore it, let me know what is your favorite part and why.
My idea is that we open up our spell book and there is a new page. I would call it something like minion options or something simple like that. What you could do there is look at your minions spells and switch them out. You can also tell your minion to prioritize things.
So let’s say, for example purposes only, that I look at my Sprite Guardian and I want it to only be a healer with no attacking spells, traps or spirit armor. I take the spells I have gotten as a life wizard and with the 4 open slots that I opened up by taking spells out, I can put in any other 4 life spells that are under 4 pips. 4 pips because that is the highest amount of pip cost of any of its original spells, that one spell in this case would be satyr. If I had a Sir Bedevere, I could put any spells that have an X value or any spells up to 7 pips. This way a minion isn't completely overpowered.
The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities. Because I want my Sprite Guardian to be a healer, I would click the heal option. There might also be a attack option, blade and trap option, shield option, exc. After I click heal, there would be buttons saying things similar to lowest health/max health, lowest health, self (as in the minions self), summoner (AKA, you), exc. I want it to heal the wizard with the least amount of health compared to their max amount of health so I would pick lowest health/max health.
This page would allow your minion to make semi-intellectual choices without you controlling it directly. I feel it would be a great addition to the game to those that are myth wizards or just wizards that like using their minions a lot. (Like me)
Too much? Too little? Too bias to a specific school over another? Too cheap? Other comments? Let me know, I won’t bite.
-Ashley Lifeheart, level 45 Master Theurgist
Its an interesting idea (or ideas, rather) and frankly one I'll have to think on a while. You touch on some of the issues I was recently working on but in a completely different way. Initially, some of it feels over powered, particularly being able to adjust the minion's deck. You have to keep in mind the pip cost for these minions because what you're suggesting packs a lot into only a few pips. As laid out, animate could pose a problem. It is the only unlimited X minion card in the game and can summon up to 14 different minions based on the amount of pips invested. I'm not really certain how this would look considering that card. Myth would get messy too because if you count the different minions in both X minion cards, they actually can summon 11 different minions. However, the idea of setting behavior priorities for minions in your deck is intriguing. I've suggested using the menu chat system to "shout" priorities at the minion during combat but this idea may actually be better. I'm going to have to think it over some more. In the meantime, if you're interested, here is the thread about minions I recently started:
That sounds very interesting! This clever idea will solve most of my problems with minions. Such as, my water elemental healing itself over and over and only heals me once in a while.
See you later, fellow wizard! -Jessica UnicornTail Lvl 44 Pet veteran
Thanks for editing my work. Without constructive criticizers, like you (that's a complement), to tell me where I could change something, I would not be able to improve at all. Thank you again.
On with the discussion
I see where animate and myth could be a problem. Although probably not the best idea, i feel we could have something similar to tabs to sort out this kind of problem. This is what I am thinking.
I go to my spell book and on the left of the page are 11 different tabs, one for each minion. I can click one each of the different tabs to work with a different minion.
(Sorry, I know this is short. I was planning to do more but I got to run)
I am open to all critiques. I won’t be offended. Just make sure to add an explanation if you hate it and how you would fix it. Same thing if you absolutely adore it, let me know what is your favorite part and why.
My idea is that we open up our spell book and there is a new page. I would call it something like minion options or something simple like that. What you could do there is look at your minions spells and switch them out. You can also tell your minion to prioritize things.
So let’s say, for example purposes only, that I look at my Sprite Guardian and I want it to only be a healer with no attacking spells, traps or spirit armor. I take the spells I have gotten as a life wizard and with the 4 open slots that I opened up by taking spells out, I can put in any other 4 life spells that are under 4 pips. 4 pips because that is the highest amount of pip cost of any of its original spells, that one spell in this case would be satyr. If I had a Sir Bedevere, I could put any spells that have an X value or any spells up to 7 pips. This way a minion isn't completely overpowered.
The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities. Because I want my Sprite Guardian to be a healer, I would click the heal option. There might also be a attack option, blade and trap option, shield option, exc. After I click heal, there would be buttons saying things similar to lowest health/max health, lowest health, self (as in the minions self), summoner (AKA, you), exc. I want it to heal the wizard with the least amount of health compared to their max amount of health so I would pick lowest health/max health.
This page would allow your minion to make semi-intellectual choices without you controlling it directly. I feel it would be a great addition to the game to those that are myth wizards or just wizards that like using their minions a lot. (Like me)
Too much? Too little? Too bias to a specific school over another? Too cheap? Other comments? Let me know, I won’t bite.
-Ashley Lifeheart, level 45 Master Theurgist
This sounds like a nice idea, sprite guardians tend to heal people that don't need it rather than someone who do on occasion. This would resolve this
I am open to all critiques. I won’t be offended. Just make sure to add an explanation if you hate it and how you would fix it. Same thing if you absolutely adore it, let me know what is your favorite part and why.
My idea is that we open up our spell book and there is a new page. I would call it something like minion options or something simple like that. What you could do there is look at your minions spells and switch them out. You can also tell your minion to prioritize things.
So let’s say, for example purposes only, that I look at my Sprite Guardian and I want it to only be a healer with no attacking spells, traps or spirit armor. I take the spells I have gotten as a life wizard and with the 4 open slots that I opened up by taking spells out, I can put in any other 4 life spells that are under 4 pips. 4 pips because that is the highest amount of pip cost of any of its original spells, that one spell in this case would be satyr. If I had a Sir Bedevere, I could put any spells that have an X value or any spells up to 7 pips. This way a minion isn't completely overpowered.
The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities. Because I want my Sprite Guardian to be a healer, I would click the heal option. There might also be a attack option, blade and trap option, shield option, exc. After I click heal, there would be buttons saying things similar to lowest health/max health, lowest health, self (as in the minions self), summoner (AKA, you), exc. I want it to heal the wizard with the least amount of health compared to their max amount of health so I would pick lowest health/max health.
This page would allow your minion to make semi-intellectual choices without you controlling it directly. I feel it would be a great addition to the game to those that are myth wizards or just wizards that like using their minions a lot. (Like me)
Too much? Too little? Too bias to a specific school over another? Too cheap? Other comments? Let me know, I won’t bite.
-Ashley Lifeheart, level 45 Master Theurgist
Hey again Ashley. So, I wanted to get back to you after I had mulled this idea over. Personally, I love it. However, after seriously considering it I have some more feedback for you:
I think that full control over the minion spells is a step too far. I'd love to support it but I can't when considering overall game balance. With the exception of animate, there is no minion in the game that costs more than 5 pips and most are 3. Some quick spells in the 5 pip range that come to mind are regenerate, scald, frostbite, skeletal pirate, stormzilla, and minotaur. All good spells to be sure but when you consider all the things a minion can do, suddenly full control of it's deck seems over powered.
I really like the priorities and the idea of a minion specific control page. My concern with that is simplicity. I really get into this game and sometimes I forget its supposed to be an all ages game. I'm not certain if this: "The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities." was intended to be implemented as a combat control or in the spell book? I took it to mean spell book. What I was thinking is that perhaps the minion page in the spell book could be used specifically just to set priorities for a minion card:
Think of it like an enchantment card... Basically you could pick the priority you wanted for your minion and associate it with the specific minion card whose priority you wished to set. It would "create" a "tagged" copy of that card in your deck. The "tag" would be a symbol representing the priority you wish that card to have either super-imposed on over the card or perhaps placed somewhere in the description? It would correspond to some of the options you have above such as "heal low health", "prioritize support", "aggressive shield breaker", etc... During combat, differently "tagged" copies of the minion card could be selected as needs dictate.
I had previously suggested using the built in menu chat system to communicate priorities to the minion in real time... However, after reading this thread and looking at your ideas perhaps something more in the middle is a better approach? I struggle with how much is too much for minions, but I think the idea of a page that could allow you to tailor priorities for multiple copies of the each minion card may be a happy medium. I look forward to your thoughts...
Hey again Ashley. So, I wanted to get back to you after I had mulled this idea over. Personally, I love it. However, after seriously considering it I have some more feedback for you:
I think that full control over the minion spells is a step too far. I'd love to support it but I can't when considering overall game balance. With the exception of animate, there is no minion in the game that costs more than 5 pips and most are 3. Some quick spells in the 5 pip range that come to mind are regenerate, scald, frostbite, skeletal pirate, stormzilla, and minotaur. All good spells to be sure but when you consider all the things a minion can do, suddenly full control of it's deck seems over powered.
I really like the priorities and the idea of a minion specific control page. My concern with that is simplicity. I really get into this game and sometimes I forget its supposed to be an all ages game. I'm not certain if this: "The next thing you could do with this addition to our spell book is have our minions have priorities." was intended to be implemented as a combat control or in the spell book? I took it to mean spell book. What I was thinking is that perhaps the minion page in the spell book could be used specifically just to set priorities for a minion card:
Think of it like an enchantment card... Basically you could pick the priority you wanted for your minion and associate it with the specific minion card whose priority you wished to set. It would "create" a "tagged" copy of that card in your deck. The "tag" would be a symbol representing the priority you wish that card to have either super-imposed on over the card or perhaps placed somewhere in the description? It would correspond to some of the options you have above such as "heal low health", "prioritize support", "aggressive shield breaker", etc... During combat, differently "tagged" copies of the minion card could be selected as needs dictate.
I had previously suggested using the built in menu chat system to communicate priorities to the minion in real time... However, after reading this thread and looking at your ideas perhaps something more in the middle is a better approach? I struggle with how much is too much for minions, but I think the idea of a page that could allow you to tailor priorities for multiple copies of the each minion card may be a happy medium. I look forward to your thoughts...
I am so glad you gave me a new prospective. This makes me very happy.
You are right, having full control over the spell deck is a little overpowered. I need to think about this part a little more. possibility we are only allowed to change one or two attacks instead of the whole thing and they must be the same amount of pip cost as the spells you took out. I don't know. Like I said, I will need to think of some more about this part. I might just take it out as a whole.
Your idea of "tagging" your minion with commands is a great idea that we must think about more. I am slightly confused though with when you would tag your minion. You explained it like an enchanted card, telling me you do it in the middle of the fighting. You also keep talking about it like it is still on a page in your spell book, before the battle even starts. I personally think it would be easier to make it not as overpowered by doing it before the battle. This is because I am thinking about it like my spell decks, I have multipule. When going into a 3 vs 3 or higher battle I bring out a different spell deck than if I was fighting a boss solo and a different one yet again if I am fighting a life boss. They are specialized for that situation. Although they are specialized, I wont be able to change it in the middle of a fight if I need more firepower, less shields and less healing when I have my defensive deck equipped. I tie this back into minions by saying that I can look at a fight and assume that I might need more offense than defense but I never really know when I need that healing power to activate. This makes minions act like my spell decks, assuming I need one thing but doing this gives me risks. This would make sure that minions would not be considered "cheep" and make them act more like wizards.
Am I making any sense? I am never quite sure... haha. Anyways, let me know what you think.
I am so glad you gave me a new prospective. This makes me very happy.
You are right, having full control over the spell deck is a little overpowered. I need to think about this part a little more. possibility we are only allowed to change one or two attacks instead of the whole thing and they must be the same amount of pip cost as the spells you took out. I don't know. Like I said, I will need to think of some more about this part. I might just take it out as a whole.
Your idea of "tagging" your minion with commands is a great idea that we must think about more. I am slightly confused though with when you would tag your minion. You explained it like an enchanted card, telling me you do it in the middle of the fighting. You also keep talking about it like it is still on a page in your spell book, before the battle even starts. I personally think it would be easier to make it not as overpowered by doing it before the battle. This is because I am thinking about it like my spell decks, I have multipule. When going into a 3 vs 3 or higher battle I bring out a different spell deck than if I was fighting a boss solo and a different one yet again if I am fighting a life boss. They are specialized for that situation. Although they are specialized, I wont be able to change it in the middle of a fight if I need more firepower, less shields and less healing when I have my defensive deck equipped. I tie this back into minions by saying that I can look at a fight and assume that I might need more offense than defense but I never really know when I need that healing power to activate. This makes minions act like my spell decks, assuming I need one thing but doing this gives me risks. This would make sure that minions would not be considered "cheep" and make them act more like wizards.
Am I making any sense? I am never quite sure... haha. Anyways, let me know what you think.
"Your idea of "tagging" your minion with commands is a great idea that we must think about more. I am slightly confused though with when you would tag your minion. You explained it like an enchanted card, telling me you do it in the middle of the fighting."
Sorry... I didn't explain that well. What I meant was using your idea of a page in the spell book, we could have a process that worked "like" enchanted cards in order to make different priority copies of minions in our spell books. Said another way, let's say you are myth and you have a deck that can hold 5 copies of myth spells. This page in your spell book would let you "tag" the cyclops minion card so that each of those 5 copies could have a different minion priority attached to them. The process would be done entirely out of battle. That way, when you are in battle you can pick what priority you want your minion to have based on which of the cards come up. If you really preferred a "healing" minion, you could tag all of them with a healing priority. Does that make more sense? After reading the rest of your post, it looks like we're on the same "page"... lol. Couldn't resist that...
"Your idea of "tagging" your minion with commands is a great idea that we must think about more. I am slightly confused though with when you would tag your minion. You explained it like an enchanted card, telling me you do it in the middle of the fighting."
Sorry... I didn't explain that well. What I meant was using your idea of a page in the spell book, we could have a process that worked "like" enchanted cards in order to make different priority copies of minions in our spell books. Said another way, let's say you are myth and you have a deck that can hold 5 copies of myth spells. This page in your spell book would let you "tag" the cyclops minion card so that each of those 5 copies could have a different minion priority attached to them. The process would be done entirely out of battle. That way, when you are in battle you can pick what priority you want your minion to have based on which of the cards come up. If you really preferred a "healing" minion, you could tag all of them with a healing priority. Does that make more sense? After reading the rest of your post, it looks like we're on the same "page"... lol. Couldn't resist that...
(I face palmed myself while reading the end)
I am glad we got that cleared up. I understand now. Sorry for the confusion. I feel that this method of giving minions commands will be enough to fix the problem but not so cheep that it destroys the whole game with unfairness. I love your idea of "tagging" each individual card and not the whole deck of minions if wanted. I wish I had more to say and more to fix or figure out but sadly and happily at the same time, I dont.
Pet veteran
World: MooShu and Grizzleheim Area: Crimson Fields and Mirkholm Keep
