[crossfire] RFC: dynamic alchemy

[Mark Wedel]

  I think the general balance issue on apply dynamic alchemy to any object is 
basically this:

  If the same rules apply for all armor type items (boots, gloves, helmet, 
shield, girdle, bracers, and the armor itself), players can really crank up 
their power.

  For most of those, there is a limit on how good you can find (and the good 
ones are generally artifact level, so pretty hard).  But if through shadow 
alchemy I can make decent (say resist +25%, or ones that give me stats) at some 
reasonable level (say 20), it now can become pretty easy to run around with 50% 
resistance in everything, or perhaps more a problem straight 30 stats (make that 
+2 int helmet, +2 con shield, etc).  The armors that give out stat bonuses is 
really pretty limited right now.

  Of course, various controls can be put in place to prevent this (limit stats 
based on different objects, etc), but this then starts to make a more 
complicated system - such controls should be done in a file, not hardcoded, and 
this starts to look like a formula file in a different regard.

  We should assume that clever players will likely figure out how to create 
whatever they want - we shouldn't believe that having imprecise or random 
effects will limit it - all that will really happen is that players will pretty 
much only use the objects that give them the needed effects.