I know at Simucon GM Estild said we would NOT want a CoL review because of the power level change. That said I feel like the other societies have more broad appeal. CoL basically comes down to wracking and long duration for combat signs. Aside from clotting there is very little real utility there. The overall process for ranking up in CoL is also very antiquated and boring. I feel a review, even one that adjusted the overall power level, would be beneficial for the society.

First and foremost CoL needs a lore update. I think this should be worked in as part of a full revamp but the story definitely needs help. GoS and Voln have rich stories they weave throughout your time ranking up. The Council just feels very thin in comparison. They also include mechanics that keep you invested in your society after you master. Once you master CoL you're done and you really never think about it again. I want more out of my societies and, for that reason, I very rarely ever consider CoL.

The more modern sigil and symbol lists provide some interesting combat mechanics, while also offering some real utility. In comparison CoL seems rather limited in that area. As I said clotting is really their only utility. Their teleport sign feels too punishing to really use most of the time. They also have a few lackluster combat tricks but nothing to compare to what Voln can do to undead or GoS to hated enemies. Once again CoL is just too plain to be appealing.

Ranking up in Voln and GoS requires some real dedication to the cause of the societies. Meanwhile in CoL we are given essentially random menial tasks. I won't go into more detail than that. You go through the society not really having any idea what they stand for. It leaves you without much of a connection to the group and it feels light on RP. I want my society to matter and make me feel a connection.

A review of CoL would probably not be appreciated by a subset of the player population. The duration of signs would surely be adjusted and overall combat power level might be down-tweaked. Overall I feel that the potential for a more modern, fleshed out society with a diverse assortment of powers would be a worthwhile trade off. If we got something in the same style as the Voln update, or the diversity introduced with the wizard review, then I think we would be in a good place. I hope the Dev Team and the Worlds Team will consider collaborating to update CoL into a modern, fleshed out society, comparable to the others.

Keith/Brinret/Eronderl

Keith is correct

-Wyrom, APM

Keith is correct.

-GameMaster Estild

I would vastly prefer a COL review to focus on its history and roleplay instead of its mechanics.

- Overlord EK

>You now regard Eorgina with a warm demeanor.

>>I would vastly prefer a COL review to focus on its history and roleplay instead of its mechanics.

Very much this, add to the societies and give them more RP reasons etc.

Wyrom says, "Ordim is the reason savants won't be coded as well."

Roleplaying updates sure, any mechanics changes are not necessary, nor are they wanted.

I think a CoL review / refactor would be a good thing.

Yes, to the world story alignment.

Yes, to maintaining some very strong primary benefit for spell casters (you know the ones).

And - where I'll probably get a rotten raspberry thrown my way - yes to reworking some of the less useful signs into something more. . . helpful.

Voln refactor was well done, in my view - set a great bar. I'll be floored to see something that exceeds it.

Doug

Count me in as entirely disinterested in a COL review. COL review would basically just be a vehicle to tank Wracking. No thanks!

I do not have my malevolent sorcerer in CoL for the purely IC reasons that they present themselves as a good organization, and that if he is seeing through that ploy enough to know they are not, he would have to be willingly subjugating himself to other powers. If the "you were tricked mwahaha you are now our slave and must obey us" thing was changed, I would probably have him in it for Wracking (which translated as "a bad trade" in the archaic local traders language, one hint something was not right.)

The surrounding context for CoL no longer exists. There were two cults of the Unlife in the history of the (Kelfour's) Landing region. One was The Dark Path, the theocracy of Bandur Etrevion, which was demon / undead / afterlife oriented. The other were The Iron Wind with one branch being evil priests who subvert civilizations from within by pretending to be loremasters, and the other branch being the assassins the priests use as enforcers. The Council of Light is obviously a front for the latter.(*)

This specific group is very much a copyrighted thing, and there is very little in the way of hooks in the modern history for what they do. They should probably be turned into a similar kind of dark secret society but without relying on the old historical context. I would vote for turning them into demon worshippers, and the corruption mechanic twisted into a kind of spiritual branding, basically saying "you could out us for evil forbidden magic but then you'll be just as screwed so you might as well be with us."

Ideally, we would get rid of the separation between the society and the group behind the society, so that being a member of CoL actually means being part of an organization instead of chattel. Collecting the random stuff should also be thrown out. They were preparing for a war between warlords in the archaic history that do not exist now.

- Xorus' player


(*) In other words, there is no "council" at all, there are only the priests and their assassins. The backstory of the society is the historical documentation for those priests. The only GemStone specific document I know of related to CoL is "Ditmar's Tale", but only because it involves one of their allies who does not exist in the modern history.

I vote the Dark Alliance usurp the Council of Light.

...and I may be starting that process already. Bwahahaha.

- Overlord EK

>You now regard Eorgina with a warm demeanor.

Well that project is doomed to fail now =(

Wyrom says, "Ordim is the reason savants won't be coded as well."

<<You history buffs will likely know of far better examples, but how about having COL's leadership be attached to the Horned Cabal? If not them, insert some other evil organization that fits the bill.>>

CoL pre-dates all of the current history entirely, so it could really be anything at all.

I'd prefer it to be more like Althedeus than Lornon. But whatever works.

- Xorus' player

I think that perhaps a player position of power in the societies would be a good thing for RP. Comes with titles and all that jazz. Something like they have for Vaalor elves and their "army".

General of Voln.

Sneaky Snake of the Bathhouse.

Then get some events going revolving around this. I'm no storyteller so I got no ideas off the top of my head for what this could be.

http://i.imgur.com/lsWPzG9.gif

I was looking at the COL signs, and which ones I bother to even use on any characters that are in COL.

Spirit is a big deal. It dramatically reduces your AS/DS and ability to avoid maneuvers. Some of the costs for signs are ridiculous comparing them to other societies.

I'd love to see a count on how many times in an entire year someone used Sign of Possession - mass calm the entire room. It seems silly that this ability costs 4 spirit (out of a max of 13) for a one-time cast. Then you have Symbol of Sleep for Voln that does something almost identical for a good chunk of favor, but favor is easier to replace. It doesn't disable the player in any way! Sigil of Intimidation + Distraction is another great enemy debuffer for just mana/stamina cost.

Spirit is too hard to regenerate, and too significant a cost for something like this. Sign of Hypnosis costs 1 spirit instantly, for just a random target getting calmed. That's a bit crazy from a cost perspective.

I totally get the costs for the rest. Madness is pretty limited in value since as soon as it ends, you're useless on the battlefield, but it has a niche purpose. The others are all viable and usable because of the durations - but if COL were to be refactored and the duration reduced, then it wouldn't make sense for it to cost spirit any longer.

Really would like Possession and Hypnosis to get some attention so it could be used infrequently, but more reliably.