Moving to here before I derail the rage thread any more.
New extermination system ideas:
Have Duiran rangers call off on CT if an exterminator is hitting an area. Ranger has to be alive to issue the call (may wish to remove the log of the ranger death so things can still be done in secret)
Have a willpower draining def that detects globally for exterminations and procures a line. Have that line also tell you the room if you happen to be in the area at the time.
Slow down extermination time to that of splicing wormholes so you cannot clear a whole forest before anyone can react.
Have Shamans/Sents have an ability similar to LEYLINES that will tell you how many exterminated rooms are in an area. (must be in area, will not tell global numbers)
Those should make patrols be less tedious, give you a fair shot at detecting when they're occurring, and still allow enemies to have a chance to accomplish what their goal was.
Comments
I could definitely see Duiran with a "Return to Nature" ability that 'destroys' urban, village, path, etc. rooms.
Exterminate could be changed to also affect normal rooms.
We all agreed on that back then as well - but no one was able to suggest a manageable version of the mechanic.
Your idea isn't so bad at first glance, though there would need to be retaliation versions - and it can't be something like fires in cities. Attacking a city requires dealing with guards, while attacking a forest does not.
When you start down the road of creating ways to attack cities beyond our current shitty raid system, it gets quite complex. And ultimately - what gets suggested is closer to a war system.
I'm all for ways to allow a civ vs wilds conflict, but extermination isn't it, and to be honest, the game has moved on from anti-civ, probably irrevocably, because Duiran has a life based alignment.
I remember, involve me and I
learn.
-Benjamin Franklin
As a separate note, maybe something could be added mechanically where there could be something besides naturalism to cure exterminations. Maybe the Rangers can heal it over time, or give Benadanti staffs some sort of ability to cure it without use of comms. Or a combo of both. If the staff could cure it, you could basically shove the staff into the ground and it would pulse with Dendara energies and cleanse the destruction. It would take bal/eq like any normal attack and maybe use mana. And if you want to channel it to nearby..like..3 rooms or something, it'd take even longer.
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Hide Conceal yourself in the shadows.
Signal Call across an area to your kin with the voice of the wild.
Climbing Clamber up into the trees with ease.
Hardiness Your time in the wilds has hardened both spirit and body.
Barkskin Make your skin tough like bark.
Coagulation Use your knowledge of healing to reduce bleeding.
Conceal Naught but a wisp of shadow from the wood.
Wildmark Leave your mark in the depths of the wild.
Foreststriding Walk the woodland with the stride of the rangers.
Refresh Rouse your wearied body with a surge of strength.
Tent Protect yourself from the elements.
Campfire Build a campfire to soothe the body and soul.
Fitness Controlling your breathing.
Thornspray Attack your enemies with a flurry of flying thorns.
Lifesap Leech from the spilled blood of others.
Instinct The forest is your domain; the land your ally.
Track Order a loyal companion to track down your prey.
Rejuvenate Return life to blighted land.
Vitality An adrenaline rush to heal your body.
Campsite Expand your hunting ground into a fortified campsite.
Camouflage Hide your companions from the watchful gaze of others.
I don't really understand the hate towards those exterminating. Exterminating does NOTHING anymore, except opens the door to conflict. Forestals literally can just ignore it as there are no large detrimental effects. "The Wilds defend themselves" has always been a valid line to throw out if you don't want to actively get involved in the specific conflict, and with the active and enthusiastic admin we have these days, I think it's very possible and feasible to even get some fun things going to reinforce that (eg, roaming treant in the ithmia that smashes anyone who's exterminated in the past Aet year, roots that lash out at anyone exterminating, even just a group drum circle to help wake up the wilds or whatev).
Again, forests naturally fix themselves at new year. Nobody needs to do anything. Herbs aren't rare. Forest terrain isn't needed for combat. There is NO REASON people need to be knocking themselves out to fix all these rooms - yes, absolutely show some sort of response to it, but emoting something about uttering an incantation and planting some seeds that will bloom at the new years works just as well as wasting all your ice and time. The mechanics in place already show that the wilds take care of themselves. When I was a Sent, I'd always be like, "...and the big deal is...?" whenever people talked about extermination. I'd let the room fix on its own and I'd get some PK if I was bored. I always found it to be coddling the wilds to go around rejuvenating.
I myself have to admit that I'm more in favor of giving each city an extermination-like ability that's more suited to that city, so that each has an agenda they can push in that manner. If that makes sense.
I remember, involve me and I
learn.
-Benjamin Franklin
Regarding the cost, it's my understanding that Extermination only takes a single elemental ash? Versus elemental ice to 1. determine who exterminated and 2. fix the extermination.
As to the effect of the extermination, plants only come back from adjacent rooms. So if a whole area is exterminated, we have to replant at least one of the rooms. If a whole swath of land is ringed in by an odd terrain type, then there won't be any way for plants to grow in.
Also, there's a huge difference in trying to deal with the trolling kind of extermination and someone who RPs out their frustration over something with the forests or the forestal community by using said skill. The former kind I'd say deserves every bounty placed on them simply because they're probably not really interested in an RP solution, while the latter shows they might be approachable for some kind of RP conflict.
It's pretty simple to move from being seen as a troll to someone with a reasonable motive. Just make sure to start spewing some stuff in tells to people on the other side (something that might explain reasons and whatnot) and try to get some interaction instead of simple bounty collection. From the other end, if the exterminator doesn't respond to attempts to get such a meeting organized, it's more than likely to be a troll, so bounty away. No?
Just my 2 cents, I guess.
Edit: And before anyone says the bounty system... Eh, I don't really think it applies well to this. Not to mention, I'm still iffy about one bounty for every 2 exterminated rooms. Means we get to kill someone 25 times if they exterminate an entire forest or something along those lines.
Extermination seems like it would suitably be useful for gaining infamy...
Has the forestal role changed so much that now it's all about protecting and coddling nature? Haern used to preach that the wilds were stronger than us and that it was arrogant to assume we could protect them - not only was that sort of outlook very fierce and feral, it absolved forestals of the heavy responsibility of ensuring every forest room everywhere was safe. While Duiran is a city focused on the wilds, it's not your job to protect every single patch of forest. That's tiring and not fun and if that's the vision being pushed, I think admin need to step in and help clarify that to steer you guys away from burnout.