Anyone have a chance to try this in Test?

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

To tell you the truth I forget how to get into a position to be able to choke.

I think it was just get to melee and CHOKE.

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"Brace yourselves, Squanto is going to bleh blah fart fart bleh.." -the player of the character formerly known as Pureblade

Do you want to just release it in prime and we can test it here?

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"Brace yourselves, Squanto is going to bleh blah fart fart bleh.." -the player of the character formerly known as Pureblade

Test is up and choke should be working there for the moment. I just don't want to break combat in Prime especially given that my internet is sketchy and it is unlikely anyone else could fix it easily :P

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

Are you stronger than these enemies?

Yeah I second that it should be Rawlings based if possible, if it's tactics based no barbs are gonna use it anytime meaningful.

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Don't forget to vote for dragonrealms:

http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html

Fair point on the strength, so I'll copy over what I appraised.

You are certain that the s'sugi malchata is healthy.
>You are certain that it is about as strong as you are.
You are certain that it is somewhat less agile than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less disciplined than you are.
You are certain that it is rather less quick to react than you are.
You are certain that it is somewhat less conditioned than you are.
Taking stock of its offensive abilities, and defending with a small diamond-hide shield sealed with protective wax and a long parry stick wrapped in frayed brown leather, you are certain that the s'sugi malchata is definitely less skilled.
Taking stock of its defensive abilities, and attacking with your fists, you are certain that the s'sugi malchata is a creature completely beneath your notice.
If you brawled with the enemy, you are certain that it would train very poorly.
If you defended by parrying attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train somewhat poorly.
If you defended by evading attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train somewhat poorly.
If you defended by blocking attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train somewhat poorly.
If you attempted to beguile the enemy with tactics, you are certain that it would train acceptably.
If you attempted to debilitate the enemy, you are certain that it would train acceptably.
The malchata appears immune to fire.

[Roundtime: 10 seconds]

I tested on young forest gryphons (a lot lower) and was met with success..

> choke
A fledgling forest gryphon struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> choke
choke
A fledgling forest gryphon struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
>
A fledgling forest gryphon rears up on its hind legs, its wings fanned out in a majestic pose.
>
* A fledgling forest gryphon rakes a set of large, sharp claws at you. You block solidly with a small diamond-hide shield sealed with protective wax.
[You're solidly balanced and in dominating position.]
> choke
With a loud CRACK! you snap the a fledgling forest gryphon's neck and toss it aside.
A fledgling forest gryphon collapses into a lifeless mound of fur and feathers.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

> choke
You gag, desperate for air!
>
You gag, desperate for air!
>

One thing I'd note is that I spammed choke, so the Roundtime isn't actually coming up as a roundtime.


I then tried against Shalswar, which are a lot lower than my tactics, and was met with this result about ten times:

>
An armored shalswar struggles helplessly in your grasp.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
> choke

choke
An armored shalswar struggles helplessly in your grasp.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
>
Left and right you wrench the an armored shalswar's head. Eventually you maneuver into a better position and conclude the life-ending struggle.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
> choke
choke

Left and right you wrench the an armored shalswar's head. Eventually you maneuver into a better position and conclude the life-ending struggle.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
>
Left and right you wrench the an armored shalswar's head. Eventually you maneuver into a better position and conclude the life-ending struggle.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
> choke

Left and right you wrench the an armored shalswar's head. Eventually you maneuver into a better position and conclude the life-ending struggle.
Roundtime: 10 sec.
> choke
* An armored shalswar lunges forward and swipes its wickedly-curved talons at you. You evade.
[You're solidly balanced with no advantage.]
>
An armored shalswar struggles in your hands and breaks free from your choke-hold!
Roundtime: 15 sec.
R>


> app shals careful
You are certain that the armored shalswar is healthy.
You are certain that the armored shalswar is slightly fatigued.
You are certain that it is somewhat weaker than you are.
You are certain that it is rather less agile than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less disciplined than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less quick to react than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less conditioned than you are.
Taking stock of its offensive abilities, and defending with a small diamond-hide shield sealed with protective wax and a long parry stick wrapped in frayed brown leather, you are certain that the armored shalswar is an easy opponent.
Taking stock of its defensive abilities, and attacking with your fists, you are certain that the armored shalswar is a creature completely beneath your notice.
If you brawled with the enemy, you are certain that it would train quite badly.
If you defended by parrying attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train quite badly.
If you defended by evading attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train quite badly.
If you defended by blocking attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train quite badly.
If you attempted to beguile the enemy with tactics, you are certain that it would train very poorly.
If you attempted to debilitate the enemy, you are certain that it would train very poorly.

[Roundtime: 10 seconds]
R>


So it's somewhat weaker than I am, I'm closing on 600 tactics (these things are barely moving my tactics), and they're able to break free every time.

Only Barbarians should be able to Choke over in Test. Can someone else confirm other Guilds can do this for me please? I'll take a look next week when I get back.

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

With my Bard:

>grab rat
You grab hold of a ship's rat in a tight grip. A ship's rat grips you back.
[You're solidly balanced with no advantage.]
Roundtime: 4 sec.

>choke
A ship's rat struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

>choke
A ship's rat struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

>choke
With a loud CRACK! you snap the a ship's rat's neck and toss it aside.
The ship's rat falls to the ground and lies still.
Roundtime: 8 sec.


I didn't get any roundtime for the choke action, despite it saying I did.

Okay BUG list time!

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1. As others have noted, I can CHOKE with my Moon Mage.
(Non-bug observations: It doesn't teach very well on at level creatures. Despite Tactics appraising as training acceptably, 5 minutes of CHOKE only got to about 7/34. It also 98% of the time results in struggling against my strong grasp, with them occasionally breaking free. As it stands it's kind of a pointless thing to do, not worth the roundtime investment at all.)

You grab hold of a giant blight ogre in a tight grip. A giant blight ogre grips you back.
[You're solidly balanced with no advantage.]
Roundtime: 3 sec.

A giant blight ogre struggles against your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 15 sec.

A giant blight ogre struggles against your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 15 sec.

A giant blight ogre struggles against your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 15 sec.

repeat ad nauseum

A giant blight ogre struggles in your hands and breaks free from your choke-hold!
Roundtime: 15 sec.

> app ogre careful
You are certain that the blight ogre is healthy.
You are certain that the blight ogre is somewhat fatigued.
You are certain that it is about as strong as you are.
You are certain that it is rather less agile than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less disciplined than you are.
You are certain that it is definitely less quick to react than you are.
You are certain that it is rather less conditioned than you are.
Taking stock of its offensive abilities, and defending with a gargoyle-hide targe with a reinforced design and a silver-hued parry stick with reinforced silken straps, you are certain that the blight ogre is a solid opponent.
Taking stock of its defensive abilities, and attacking with your fists, you are certain that the blight ogre is a simple opponent.
If you brawled with the enemy, you are certain that it would train rather well.
If you defended by parrying attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train acceptably.
If you defended by evading attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train somewhat poorly.
If you defended by blocking attacks, you are certain that the enemy would train acceptably.
If you attempted to beguile the enemy with tactics, you are certain that it would train acceptably.
If you targeted and cast a spell at the enemy, you are certain that it would train acceptably.
If you attempted to debilitate the enemy, you are certain that it would train acceptably.

> skill tactic

SKILL: Rank/Percent towards next rank/Amount learning/Mindstate fraction
Tactics: 239 84.37% clear (0/34)

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2. I can choke some creatures without RT, effectively making this an instant kill ability. It appears to be creatures that I far surpass in skill/stats. Possibly specific creatures, however. The log isn't too helpful since it appears to be 8 seconds of RT between each attack, but everything pasted below happens instantly. The script [.do] literally enters a command, matches for roundtime, and then loops to entering the command again after a 0.1 second pause to prevent infinite loop crashing.

>
[Script loaded: do.cmd]
[do]: choke
A ship's rat struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
A ship's rat struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
With a loud CRACK! you snap the a ship's rat's neck and toss it aside.
The ship's rat falls to the ground and lies still.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

>
[Script loaded: do.cmd]
[do]: choke
A large musk hog struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
A large musk hog struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
With a loud CRACK! you snap the a large musk hog's neck and toss it aside.
The musk hog falls to the ground and lies still.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

>
[Script loaded: do.cmd]
> [do]: choke
A gap-toothed scavenger goblin struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
A gap-toothed scavenger goblin struggles helplessly in your strong grasp.
Roundtime: 8 sec.
> [do]: choke
With a loud CRACK! you snap the a gap-toothed scavenger goblin's neck and toss it aside.
A gap-toothed scavenger goblin collapses to the ground, shuddering and moaning until it ceases all movement.
Roundtime: 8 sec.

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3. I've discovered a bug with GRAPPLE. When using GRAPPLE when already engaged and advancing at pole the game returns nothing, but puts you at melee instantly. Using it a second time at this points grapples the target since you're now at melee. I suspect it is triggering the charge mechanic, but failing to follow through with the actual attack. Using the GRAPPLE verb when starting at or engaged at missile range or starting from pole messages that you are too far away and you start to advance as expected.

> grapple
You aren't close enough to attack.
You begin to advance on a large musk hog.
>
> grapple
You aren't close enough to attack.
You are already advancing on a large musk hog.
>
You close to pole weapon range on a large musk hog.
You stop a large musk hog from advancing any farther.
> grapple

> assess
You assess your combat situation...

You (solidly balanced) are facing a large musk hog (1) at melee range.
A large musk hog (1: solidly balanced) is facing you at melee range.
A large musk hog (2: badly balanced) is moving to flank you at pole weapon range.
A large musk hog (3: slightly off balance) is moving behind you at missile range.

(You are also defending against a large musk hog.)

>grapple

>
You grab hold of a large musk hog in a tight grip. A large musk hog grips you back.
[You're bruised, solidly balanced and have slight advantage.]
Roundtime: 3 sec.

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Elanthipedia - https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page

>Your pulse quickens with the imminent demise of the goblin shaman trapped in your grasp, as a deep, blood red fills your vision. Letting loose a roar of which Trothfang himself would be proud, with one brutal twist you yank your arm across your chest and shatter the neck of the goblin shaman with a gruesome "CRACK"!

http://youtu.be/aNa3Co83_gk?t=1m48s

>I'm only adding it back in because it was a really cool thing Barbarians could do to stuff that was beneath them.

FWIW, it wasn't just stuff "beneath" us that we could choke before. I'll agree with not killing as quickly or training as well, though.

Just wanted to clarify that before CHOKE is simply turned into a fluff verb that we can only do against goblins.

Thanks!

Also seconded. Back in 2.0 my Barbarian was pretty young, but was definitely choking things at range. Anything he could brawl really.

>>I eased up the strength requirement and made it using brawling skill in Test.

Let us know when it's updated in test. Just logged in and the same results and still using tactics skill/gaining experience in tactics from CHOKE (no brawling.)

In regards to the attempts/RT/cooldown, if it's meant to be underpowered vs what you could do with >punch chest or attacking with a weapon, why introduce such long RTs and/or a cooldown timer?

With >punch abdomen, I can kill a Malchata with 728 brawling in under 20 seconds. Why not make choke, in comparison, at like 30 seconds with no cooldown?

I do agree with it scaling appropriately, of course.

I kind of agree. When you're going for a choke-kill you're not doing anything else, so it's pure dead wait/RT time.

Not sure how he'd really balance that though, honestly. Armored/armed status vs. barriers etc. change it too much to really use a time-based calculation?

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I'm a badger, I be badgerin'

>>With >punch abdomen, I can kill a Malchata with 728 brawling in under 20 seconds. Why not make choke, in comparison, at like 30 seconds with no cooldown?


Before buffs, debuffs and balance - you have 45% more offense than malchata have defenses. I'd say that is a pretty good reason for them to die quickly.

I cannot even begin to balance choke to have "dps" comparable to brawling attacks, so I am not going to try.

Choke should now properly be using/teaching brawling in test.

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

Well no, that should have killed it :P Let me dig a bit.

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

Ok this should be fixed. I also added a small random to the strength roll. That particular messaging is dictated by strength. You mighty try using BEAR FORM to be more effective at choking things.

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"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

I'm concerned that Kodius' tinkering with choke on the test server has led to him testing it out RL on himself to ensure accuracy, rendering him incapacitated and unable to provide us with an update for the past two months.

:/