[crossfire] Project: Slow down combat

[Kevin R. Bulgrien]

>   I decided to spend a little time playing with the code.  The 
> tavern.santa-clara.ca.us server is running with these changes.  Note that I've 
> only modified orcs, goblins, kobolds, and gnolls as far as AC goes.  I also made 
> some server changes as far as speed goes - it turns out that for first level 
> characters, movement speed isn't that much different by default, but the attacks 
> are slower.
> 
>   I must say that for a few hours work, I'm pleasantly surprised.  My brand new 
> human fighter no mows through the kobolds - they weren't a serious threat of 
> killing him, but definitely slower - in many cases, taking several seconds to 
> kill some orcs and kobolds.  I think this may still be a bit too fast, but 
> probably the limit of tuning with just speed and AC.  It certainly does make the 
> game a bit tougher.  I think playing with HP is next step - I still like the 
> idea of upping both monster & character HP at low levels, so a few stray hits 
> don't kill a character.

I set up a character on tavern... a gnome priest because that is what I was
trying on ailesse when I commented on this before.

I suggest testing with a non-warrior... not a warrior, for important observations
in balance where the new player does not have a good armor class.  Melee with the
priest and his default two-handed quarterstaff is no match for the orc and his
bow.  The low hit rate for the priest is pretty much a death sentence.  The orc's
arrows deal out a lot of damage, and getting my licks in is so slow that going
physical is asking for death.  Has the orc's firing rate slowed proportionately
to the player's attack rate?

Newbie tower's kobolds are seemingly not possible with him even at second
level even trying to use hit and run tactics...  and this is even with a
priest who can regen grace by praying.  We do not want to bore people to
tears at the beginning of the game, or no-one will stick it out.  I'd hate
to think how a mana magic user would fare with their limited mana regen.

This strengthens concern about the feasibility of looking at physical combat
only.  I think it might be tough to keep disciplined at checking how stuff
affects all characters.  Testing with a character that uses primarily physical
combat is going to tend to off-balance those that have to use physical combat
as a backup because they are going to be affected even more than the warrior
class.

Also, on a side note, how much sense does it make that my guy is going hand to
hand and this guy can fire arrows with a bow and kill me?  A bow is not exactly
something that works well for close combat.  How possible is it for bow use to
be impeded somewhat when right next to the defender?

Kevin