Official: Custom Bolt Messaging

A new merchant service is now available to casters - custom bolt messaging. For example, when a wizard normally casts Major Fire (908), this is what they see:

incant 908 Your hands glow with power as you invoke the phrase for Major Fire... Your spell is ready. You gesture at a giant rat. You hurl a roaring ball of fire at a giant rat! AS: +12 vs DS: -27 with AvD: +70 + d100 roll: +78 = +187 ... and hit for 60 points of damage! Extreme heat causes a giant rat's right leg to expand and snap. That must hurt! The giant rat is stunned! The roaring ball of fire strikes a giant rat, blossoming into a much larger sphere of flame upon impact. ... 45 points of damage! Left leg completely charred. Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds

With custom bolt messaging, they can change the verb and the object that is thrown. For example:

incant 908 Your hands glow with power as you invoke the phrase for Major Fire... Your spell is ready. You gesture at a giant rat. You conjure a sizzling red hot fireball at a giant rat! AS: +12 vs DS: -27 with AvD: +70 + d100 roll: +78 = +187 ... and hit for 60 points of damage! Extreme heat causes a giant rat's right leg to expand and snap. That must hurt! The giant rat is stunned! The roaring ball of fire strikes a giant rat, blossoming into a much larger sphere of flame upon impact. ... 45 points of damage! Left leg completely charred. Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds

You are able to customize the verb and the object that is thrown. e.g. hurl, toss, throw, fling, breathe, exhale, direct. All 20 bolt spells in the game can individually be customized:

111: Fire Spirit Bolt 118: Web 306: Holy Bolt 505: Hand of Tonis 510: Hurl Boulder 518: Cone of Elements, Major Air Bolt 705: Disintegrate 713: Balefire 901: Minor Shock 903: Minor Water 904: Minor Acid 906: Minor Fire 907: Major Cold 908: Major Fire 910: Major Shock 1100: Empathic Assault 1700: Arcane Blast Bolt 1707: Minor Steam 1709: Minor Cold 1710: Major Acid

Cone of Elements (518) actually casts the individual bolt spell at each target, so if a wizard customizes Minor Fire (906), then casts 518 with fire, it will use the custom 906 messaging. Major Air Bolt doesn't exist as an individual spell, but it can still be customized for 518.

GameMaster Estild

This message was originally posted in Magic Spells/Systems, Magic Systems. To discuss the above, follow the link below.

http://forums.play.net/forums/19/224/2480/view/1444

Estild is GOD! I'm loving this so much! Awesome!

@Evarin Could you add the Official tag to your original post for referencing purposes?

Yeah, this is badass. Hopefully they can let Squares in on the action and make custom messaging for CMANS, Shield maneuvers, etc.

@alastir said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@Evarin Could you add the Official tag to your original post for referencing purposes?

How do you add tags?

@evarin

You have to edit the original post, and right underneath the compose section on the left, there will be a bar for adding tags.

I've been using Event for all event related things, and Official for all official forum posts that announce something.

@alastir said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@evarin

You have to edit the original post, and right underneath the compose section on the left, there will be a bar for adding tags.

I've been using Event for all event related things, and Official for all official forum posts that announce something.

Thanks. I'll try to remember that from now on.

@Estild So could we do:

• You belch a white-hot fireball at a giant rat!

You unshavenly and grumpily hurl a churning bolt of steaming coffee at a giant rat!

I want that.

@peam Rolfard already claimed that. Sorry.

@sabotage said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@Estild So could we do:

• You belch a white-hot fireball at a giant rat!

Yes.

@peam said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

You unshavenly and grumpily hurl a churning bolt of steaming coffee at a giant rat!

I want that.

No.

@estild said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@sabotage said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@Estild So could we do:

• You belch a white-hot fireball at a giant rat!

Yes.

Well I think I have mine figured out.

Now to get a signature belching verb to go with it.

I have to admit I'm really looking forward to these. I hope some off-the-shelf offerings are at EG or maybe even Duskruin.

I got my custom bolt from the Simucon auction today, which I'm told is the very first! I thought I'd post the result:

This is 906 customized, as seen when using 518:

*White flames briefly flicker around Raelee's hand as she deftly traces an elemental pattern in the air.

Raelee gestures.

Raelee calls forth a coruscating torrent of sparks and white fire at a rolton!

AS: +346 vs DS: -5 with AvD: +55 + d100 roll: +65 = +471

... and hits for 296 points of damage!

Flames cook a rolton's abdomen. Looks about medium well.

The rolton collapses to the ground, emits a final bleat, and dies.

Raelee calls forth a coruscating torrent of sparks and white fire at a zombie rolton!

AS: +346 vs DS: -5 with AvD: +55 + d100 roll: +38 = +444

... and hits for 272 points of damage!

Blaze chars a zombie rolton's left arm. What's left is unusable.

A zombie rolton screeches loudly and slumps to the ground while frantically licking its wounded left foreleg.

The zombie rolton hisses one last time and dies.*

Ok, at this point, it's official.

Gemstone is just an elaborate scheme to sell Thesauruses.

@archsenex Nonsense!

... I use thesaurus.com, which is totally free.

@raelee said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@archsenex Nonsense!

... I use thesaurus.com, which is totally free.

I see ads on that site. It's not free.

Looks like (semi)custom bolt messaging will be available at Duskruin.

"Custom (premade) bolt messaging."

@evarin said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

Looks like (semi)custom bolt messaging will be available at Duskruin.

"Custom (premade) bolt messaging."

Speaking of people who could benefit from a dictionary... they really should call it Variant or something. The whole "custom" thing ends up confusing so many people.

@archsenex said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

Ok, at this point, it's official.

Gemstone is just an elaborate scheme to sell Thesauruses.

This logic (in terms of differentiating player options) could be applied to pretty much any RPG. Most games only have so many ways to illustrate an idea. So even though there are a handful of spells that all deal fire damage, they still need to look and feel different. In a text based game, we're obviously a lot more limited to text and thus synonyms, but overall, the concept isn't unique to GemStone.

@estild said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

@archsenex said in Official: Custom Bolt Messaging:

Ok, at this point, it's official.

Gemstone is just an elaborate scheme to sell Thesauruses.

This logic (in terms of differentiating player options) could be applied to pretty much any RPG. Most games only have so many ways to illustrate an idea. So even though there are a handful of spells that all deal fire damage, they still need to look and feel different. In a text based game, we're obviously a lot more limited to text and thus synonyms, but overall, the concept isn't unique to GemStone.

Lies. turning an enemy into a Penguin is TOTALLY different than turning them into a sheep!