So I've been accused by pretty much everyone about whining at this point even though every time I'm trying to seek out and point out lil stuff that goes on that could be changed for the better and people freak out and are like you whiner. I figured it's time for me to honestly whine a little bit.

Screams are freaking ridiculous. I scream like 5 times and I've pretty much tanked my mojo. I can't use recalls and stuff whistle piercing. But yet nothing really tells me, Hey Jerodan You just tanked your mojo by screaming! No instead I can keep screaming like crazy as much and as long as I want. So either A) Screams need to stop when all other bardic abilities do connected to Mojo or B) They don't need to go off Mojo period

Now for my magic complaint. Tell me why on earth we are elemental? The only stuff that really deals with elements at all that we have is CARE, DEMA, MERE, and PYRE and in planning that Breath of Storms. So why do we run off elemental magic when our magics much better lines up with either holy or life. Heck, I could see giving us "Sorcerous" mana type where we jump lines as often as we'd like for whichever mana type song we're singing since honestly the rest aren't elemental.

Why do we really train instruments/vocals and stuff? I've not seen any sign that they really increase enchantes much if any. I mean we split them years ago but for what honest to goodness reason? What benefit is there in strumming on a lyre or a fiddle? Why don't we have any other use for them. As Bard's we should seriously get something, maybe even work the screams so that we can jangle out something on an instrument similarly. Or maybe make our enchantes based off our ability to play an instrument instead of magic at all?

Why can't we get enchantes even though the system is broken would still be nice to see a new enchante come about. How come the Bard's Guild get's no love? Remains sooo trivially developed mechanics wise versus all the rest. I mean, did we REALLY need a Necromancer Guild when we already have Guilds like the Traders/Barbarians/Bards that are soo underdeveloped with all these promises to come that never come?

I joined the Bard's Guild with the intent of making a Sorcerer. That's right go ahead and take that IC even though he's not hinted that to anyone. And now they're like scholarship that is useless is now even more useless. Sorry Bard's who have NO ability linked to MD but yet are supposed to be all scholary and know it alls, we're going to come out with Arcana that's knowledge about magic! Oh and while we're at it, since that's magical knowledge we're moving spell scrolls over for it too so sorry those of you who have Scholarship as like your tert lore just for the sake of learning scrolls and being a spell researcher someday. So those of you that neglected it, back train for as long as you've played your character almost to get it even back up with the skills you've steadily and constantly trained.

Also, what's the deal with allowing the gap in defense and weapons to grow? It's like this in any guild pretty much. But why not adjust the reqs so that we should require like more parry versus weapon right out the gate instead of waiting until later in to decide from now on, now that you have a 40 rank gap now cuz you only used shield and didn't look ahead at the circle reqs, you need to increase your parry at the same rate as your weapon.

And when being explained that my mojo was tanked why I couldn't recall (I was a noobie Bard, my first time that happened so I assisted) he totally made mojo sound like it was based like pretty much 100% off our confidence based on how the general public thought of us. But yet when we accuse necros we can't gain mojo, that doesn't make sense and shouldn't apply.

I guess this is all bad planning and lack of balancing out my character when training him all along. But you all wanted to accuse me of whining, here it is. Mayhaps I should have researched Bard's a lot more than I did in the first place before training my character so much and becoming a fan of him because the more I look around the more I see broke stuff that should take such higher priority than it does and I'm seeing why Bard's Suck now.

On a happy note: I do love roleplaying my Bard. I love going through the history lessons with Terra. I enjoying what little research I do. I really enjoy telling other people about the lore that I do know and sharing that and stuff. I also think the Bard's Guild mirrors my train/play style a lot considering I hate survivals but enjoy combat with a good amount of guild sitting.

More complaints: I wish all these people who hate on Bard's would also know a lil lore and when you tell them the lore about how awesome Bard's are they give responses like Pothon the other night, "Stop living in the past." And when I heard that I nearly fell out of my chair because it was true. The only awesomeness found within the Bard's Guild powerful wise is Ysselt's scream (that's a joke worked in here) and Roleplay potential.

/wrist in a fit of rage.

Okay, I'm done whining/ranting/complaining/acting like a female dog now.


>bluff silv
You realize you have no idea how to bluff an unintelligent beast like the Leader Silvyrfrost.

<<I joined the Bard's Guild with the intent of making a Sorcerer. >>

Some people joined dragonrealms thinking they'd fight dragons too =/

>> lmao

His post was pretty legit. My bard was/is my favorite character ever. But I don't play him.

---

Gonif,

Are you suggesting that a spell be written specifically to allow necromancers to move into an area protected by holy magic for the purpose of constructing a vulture heart candy trail for Khurek to follow?

-Totenus

This rant is just me being pissed right now and some true honest to goodness changes I'd like to see. I don't think they'd be the end of the game at all. But it's the difference in waking up every day and logging into DR and visiting the inn and typing out exp all then looking at all the time invested and saying the reroll ain't worth it. Because heck, I could join a much more mechanically playable guild and have just as much RP. Even when it comes to lore and stuff.

Half the time when it does turn whining, it's because I start out looking for explanations and people have be all Lore Fu Nerdy Jerks and start a mildly cover-up jerk session by bashing it the ground and kicking it while it's down.


>bluff silv
You realize you have no idea how to bluff an unintelligent beast like the Leader Silvyrfrost.

>Wow.

> Simple solution here is to not let this happen. Requirements are a guideline if you want to circle. You don't have to meet the minimum. Exceed them.


I can't emphasize this enough. Guild requirements are just a bare minimum to advance. It's up to YOU to decide which skills you want to learn and how well you want to learn them. If x ranks isn't enough for you, then don't stop there.

Let's be frank here -- not everyone who joins the Bard Guild wants to be a battle bard. I would be doing the guild as a whole a disservice if I raised all requirements to force you to have a balanced combat character. If you want to be a battle bard, you are going to need to to exceed the minimum guild expectations. That's just the way it is. We aren't going to force all bards to be battle bards any more than we are going to force all bards to be performance bards.


- GM Dartenian


If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford

A bard character isn't someone you can just dump things on, it isn't a Mitsubishi.

Nice post Ysselt.

Your homework is to list out all abilities we have that use mojo. Specify if they simple require the mojo pool to be fullish, or if they also drain mojo.

__
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It will cost you 248 TDPs to raise your Charisma from 99 to 100

Jerodan, I kind of wish you'd have talked to me before you made this post so maybe I could have given you some of the answers Ysselt did.

She pretty much hit the nail on the head for most things. I can't think of much else to add.

Join a guild for the Roleplay, not the mechanics. You'll be happier that way.


- Terra

I'm trying not to laugh at you but failing miserably.

Screams are one of the most unbalanced abilities in the game. I know this is a dead horse, not trying to start an argument, just saying...when multiple bards that can't survive where I hunt can kill me with a couple screams, something's wrong. I don't begrudge Bards for them (ok maybe a little), but I know Bards have a hard row to hoe, so I guess it balances out.

You joined a lore prime guild focused on musicianship (is that even a word?) and complain about playing instruments. But still, Enchantes are affected by music theory, which you learn by playing instruments.

New Enchantes would be cool. No lie. So would being able to do more than one at a time...but you already have several enchantes that are multiple buffs at once.

About your Sorcerous leanings...sorry, you picked the wrong guild. You can dabble as much as the next mana user with scrolls, but I don't know how a sorcerous song would even happen. If you can talk a GM into it, more power to you. I'm not sure why you're even complaining about scrolls teaching Arcana, they still take scholarship to read.

The gap in your weapon/defense is your problem, you have only yourself and your poor training to blame. Like Ysselt pointed out, minimum requirements. I have a 10 rank gap between my primary weapon and primary defense. Multi opponent is 10 higher than my weapon, Shield is 10 lower. I have the same armor/survival tert, weapon secondary skillset as you.

Yes, Bard history is cool. I'm sad most of the current bard guild leaders are nothing more than boozers. If you want to get drunk lamenting the past, feel free to join them. I'm sure Aveda and Leilond don't mind breaking the mold alone.

And before you accuse me of not knowing what I'm talking about...I played a Bard. Terra was my mentor too. Difference is, when I realized the shortcomings of the Bard guild were not for me, I quietly took my ball and went home...I didn't throw a screaming crying fit on the field for everyone to see. DR is a game, play what makes you happy. You have to decide if you want the joy of RPing a Bard, or the skillset awesomeness that is a guild like Rangers.

My hunts last about 30 minutes. So whistle piercing is what I use at the end because it's time to go get healed and leave. usually though a thug has started besting so I scream to knock him off a lil. That usually happens 5 or better times. And yes, I will take that advice and stop using screams pretty much.


>bluff silv
You realize you have no idea how to bluff an unintelligent beast like the Leader Silvyrfrost.

Huge thank you to everyone. I'm done acting like a 8 year old pissed off because someone accidentally bumped into him and made him drop his ice cream cone. Though I will admit, my stress level has decreased and I've gotten some useful insight!


>bluff silv
You realize you have no idea how to bluff an unintelligent beast like the Leader Silvyrfrost.

I know, I know. But according to one of my former teachers

"A wise man learns from the experiences of others, a fool as to experience it himself"

I'm a fool.

>bluff silv
You realize you have no idea how to bluff an unintelligent beast like the Leader Silvyrfrost.

Terra is awesome. Sadly, lore prime is not.

A couple of thoughts I figured I'd post.

Firstly, I see no reason why Bards should be considered somehow less suited to sorcery than another guild like the Moon Mages. We are, after all, the only ones who can cast other guilds spells that have prereqs. It's a perfectly valid RP if not overly backed by mechanics. Personally, I've always felt Elemental to be an awkward fit as well, and I'm inclined to agree that the unique nature of many of our enchantes are so spread out that multiple mana types would be the best fit. For playability, though, elemental is as good as any in my opinion.

Weapons/defense gaps are an incredible pain, I agree. When I got about 70-80 ranks ahead in my weapons and essentially had to go to two hunting grounds to train, I decided I was doing it wrong. Take the time to train up some more weapons. Currently, in my regular combat routine, I train Longbow, ME, HE, 2HE, LT, HT, TM and Brawling. As a result, my defenses have now passed my weapons by, which I find to be a much better situation overall. The backtraining can be a chore, but it's worth it.

The best way to avoid death in combat as a bard is whistle piercing. If I get stunned, I'll instantly do scream defiance to try to get out of it. As soon as I'm unstunned, I whistle piercing. Immediately after that, flee. As long as your legs aren't too hurt to flee and your neck isn't too hurt to whistle, you will escape every single time. If that isn't enough, don't forget the utility of an inviso ring.

I don't really think it's fair to rag on Jerodan for complaining about having to train instruments. There's no notification upon joining the guild that instrument ranks are useless. I'm in complete agreement that they need to be given a purpose aside from circling, because every time I look at my instrument ranks I cringe because those could be hundreds of ranks in a skill that does anything. Fortunately, Jerodan, we've been told that after the Necros are released, Lore is going to get a good looking at. The GMs know it sucks, but there were other priorities at the time. Everyone I met at the Con who was discussing Lore got me very hopeful, they're all very competent and exciting GMs.

Essentially, Jerodan, I think you've hit a certain stage in Bardhood with your post. Eventually, bards in DR tend to split into two camps. Half of us occasionally need to blow of steam like you just did (Some of the IM conversations Ysselt and I have had put your rant to shame), while others take solace in the RP and lore of the guild and don't sweat the mechanics so much.

My advice is to try to think of what you would do to change the guild for the better. How would you make instrument ranks matter? It's a tough question: Most people kind of stare off in the distance and change the subject when asked, myself included. Throw out enchante ideas. Think up as many ways as you can to improve the guild and throw it at the boards to see what sticks. Even if nothing you suggest ever comes to pass, you never know what GM might see it and say "Hmm...now THAT gives me an idea!"

Lastly, if you ever need to vent about bards, feel free to IM me at ZanderTirade. I find my ranting with Ysselt cools my nerdrage and I'd be happy to do the same for you.


-=Issus=-

>>Instrument/Vocals ranks definitely help you play your enchantes more effectively. For example, I can easily sing Lilt in a glowing room at 27 mana, but I need to drop a few mana when I play it on my lute because my strings aren't up to my vocals.

If you can just sing it, why would you ever bother playing it on an instrument? The fact that it can be sung negates any usefulness for the ranks in other instruments. As for the enchantes that are instrument only, that means that your enchante is limited by your instrument ranks, PM ranks, Harness ranks, the weather, mojo, and how many hands you're willing to give up to play it. I don't see instrument ranks as being anything but restrictive in this situation.


-=Issus=-

>>>You mean aside from the fact that in most cases (somewhat dependent on the instrument itself) playing an enchante on an instrument is more effective than using vocals? (Or in other words, using an instrument gives a slight bonus to enchante effectiveness. Granted, not usually enough to compensate for how big a gulf most bards have between instruments and vocals, but if skill ranks were equal, you'd get better results with an instrument. Just sayin'.)

So we do more damage with our weapons while playing harmony, or rage on an instrument? Oh wait, we can't wield a weapon while playing an instrument. Just sayin'.

Yeah, yeah I know that's not exactly right but instruments are overly restrictive. I don't think I've ever used an instrument for any enchante that can be sung. Also, I rarely use the ones that require instruments because of their restrictive nature. Even if the enchante is slightly more powerful, which you just stated is more than likely not the case anyway.


"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food.."

> So we do more damage with our weapons while playing harmony, or rage on an instrument? Oh wait, we can't wield a weapon while playing an instrument. Just sayin'.


I wasn't aware all enchantes were combat enchantes. And given that both songs above are vocal only, they really aren't good examples. But it is actually possible to play instrumental enchantes in combat, even while fighting if you use one-handed weapons and one-handed instruments (say, maracas or bones with Drums of the Snake). Just sayin'. :-P



- GM Dartenian


If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right. - Henry Ford

Rubber bands! Go!

---

SEND[Abasha] It warms my heart to see three people die for a cupcake.

>>Requisite request for a one-handed stringed instrument. Thank you in advance.

Shavay just arrived, struggling to push a piano before him.
Shavay wields a sabre, putting it in his right hand.
Shavay begins plinking out Damaris' Lullaby on the piano.
Shavay exclaims, "Alright you monsters! Come and get me!!"

Killing you softly with his song,
- Stormsinger Shavay

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Faerie tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know dragons exist. Faerie tales tell children that dragons can be killed.
- G.K. Chesterton