Shattered Kingdoms

Let me help you out further, Baldric, since you're obviously in much need of help.

I said training MR is currently a suicide pact and this is a way to make it less so.

You countered with training MR is (currently) a bad idea. Don't do that.

My statement that it is currently bad and I'm offering a change to make it not so bad in the future already covered the fact that it is currently bad. Your statement that it is currently bad made no impact on my statement that it is currently bad. Nor did your statement that it is currently bad make any impact at all on my suggested change to make it less bad. In fact, you completely ignored the suggested change to tell me something I already declared and wanted to fix.

Me: The transmission is shot. You should put a new transmission in the car and then you could drive it.
Baldric: You don't understand. You cannot drive the car because the transmission is shot.
Me: You obviously were not paying attention when I already declared the transmission is shot and offered a solution.

If internet points were based on the length of responses divided by the amount of trolling done to instigate them, Baldric would be winning by a lot right now.

On topic, allowing shaman spells to bypass MR would be an unnecessary change that would heavily benefit people who rolled characters together and not help out 90% of the rest of the mud.

I know this is a more 'radical' solution but wouldn't be more sensible for MR have the option or.. something to be toggled off and on? like say, Dance?

Or maybe just not block people in your party? That would be helpful and really bug the extra paranoid.

I mean if the skill is SO broken no one who knows what it really does in the long run [ie vets] takes it.. we can't make it 'worse' can we?

forgemccain, there is a "toggle" of sorts. It's called "suppression". A learned barbarian skill that immobilizes the barbarian while the TRAINED MR is suppressed. Once "suppression" is no longer in play, all the magical benes gained during "suppression" have a chance of falling off, but the barbarian can once again go about slicing donkeys in half in single strokes.

Ah.. well there go my newbie socks.. but Okay, so.... what's the problem then? Clearly this isn't good enough if the MR is still considered suicidal

The biggest argument against training MR is that while you make yourself completely invulnerable to maledictions and all spell-based damage (Except for magma), you miss out on the ability to buff yourself both defensively and offensively, which as any veteran of a melee class will tell you, makes all the difference in the world. Going into a fight with giant strength, haste, armor, shield, protection, spirit aura and sanctuary means that you're going to take upwards of 3-4 times as much or more to kill, and do a lot more damage per round that you're in the fight as well. The chance to have a 95% resist rate on aggressive spells just isn't worth the drawback of being so weak.

In addition, you make it extremely difficult to bring you along on PvE trips just on account nof the fact that you can't be healed as efficiently (resisted spells heal based on how much MR you have, so a barbarian who trains 10 MR will actually be healed by a resisted heal, but not as much). Even basic things like detects and being refreshed turn into a huge frustration.

So, in order to be able to have your cake and eat it too as an MR barbarian you effectively have to train 6-7 MR, and then also gain a suit with 30 MR or more on it, and take off the suit whenever you wanted to buff yourself with all those defensive buffs I mentioned before: And in doing so you're going to expend 3-4 consumables for every buff you need. That can get pretty annoying with brewed spirit aura. In closing, it's way more frustrating to play as an MR barb that is also competitive in the PvP scene against other melee classes, unless you of course happen to fight in null-magic rooms or happen to have smart spell-casting friends. Choosing MR over non-MR means that you are giving yourself the option to be relatively immune to sorcs and hellions, but at the very high cost of making yourself much less versatile.

Training MR is still a bad idea, pushing40. It seems like you think suppression makes up for the penalties associated with training MR. You are incorrect.

Baldric
Apprentice -Reading for comprehension (not learned)

You can "it seems" all you want, Baldric, but until you actually read what I wrote, you will never understand that I have already stated training MR is currently a suicide pact.

I said training MR is currently a suicide pact, Baldric.

Just so you understand, Baldric, I said under current conditions, training MR is a suicide pact.

For clarity, Baldric, just so you understand, if training MR is not changed, it will remain a suicide pact.

Do you understand yet, Baldric, that I believe training MR as it's currently constituted is a suicide pact?

Can you read and understand yet, Baldric, that I believe the current game code for training MR is a suicide pact and that I want to change it so that it is less of a suicide pact, for the betterment of the game and the players?

Can you understand yet that I want to make changes in the game such that in the future, training MR is not the suicide pact that it is today?

Or are you still incapable of reading for comprehension?

I want to change what is now a suicide pact into something that is not a suicide pact. I have said it is now a suicide pact. I have said I want to change it from a suicide pact into something that is not a suicide pact.

Back up to my word-picture:
I said the transmission is shot and if you replace the transmission, you can drive the car.
You continue to remind me that you cannot drive the car because the transmission is shot, completely ignoring that I already made that point very clearly and offered a suggestion to fix the situation.

Training MR is currently a suicide pact, for those like Baldric who cannot get it through their thick skulls that I said it. I want to change it so, in the future, such is not the case. Again, for those like Baldric who cannot get it through their thick skulls that I have already said training MR is a suicide pact as it currently stands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJefPK_UkdM

Pushing40, I only skimmed your most recent post, but I noticed that you said I have a thick skull. I think it speaks a lot to your character that you would resort to childish insults, when I have only tried to help you by offering my advice on how to build characters in this game. Take my advice or ignore it -- it is your right to do either. I still strongly believe that training MR is a poor choice if you are looking to maximize your character's potential.