Board Thread:General Mod Discussion/@comment-26841670-20180310184629/@comment-33185350-20180310223629

I think this is an interesting proposal. There are things I like and dislike and I’ll try to summarize those. Here’s what I like: However, there are also some things I dislike about this system: Here are some things I would change:
 * You need to spend time developing skills before crafting things that would require skill such as elven rope.
 * This would make for better gameplay if done right as well as making “magical” items more valuable.
 * Elves, Dwarves and Orcs have very different skills and knowledge and this would be a good way to represent that.
 * Smithing is also an important skill set and in the books we see characters who develop that skill such as Celebrimbor or Sauron.
 * I actually think this is a really good way to play as one race and a great alternative to physical race selection.
 * Done right this could be a great way to represent the magic of Middle-earth ina way true to the feel of the books.
 * This system has the same fundamental flaw that the alignment system has. Aside from choosing good or evil, instead of encouraging players to emphasize one faction / race to advance in their gameplay, it encourages payers to develop all the skill sets until they can go no further. Essentially all it will be is a setback further distancing new players from older players who have gone through all the levels on servers.
 * I don’t like the idea of players blessing / cursing lands. Aside from the debate of whether that’s feasible on a biome-wide scale, we do not see that kind of magic in the books. At most we see Melian or Galadriel exerting their power to keep enemies out, but they can’t forever keep enemies at bay. Orcs don’t curse biomes, they just physically destroy things. The Ringwraiths make Morgul Gale evil but that’s just a side effect of their presence. After the war of the ring Aragorn has Minas Morgul destroyed and leaves it for the evil to fade away instead of summoning some sort of magical blessing.
 * Spending skill points would be very immersion breaking
 * Some crafts shouldn’t be obtainable even by the most advanced players. We don’t see elves still crafting Palantiri, players should not be able to do that. Like the way Fëanor was the only one who could make the Silmarils and even he could not recreate them.
 * Aside from smithing, the skill sets should be mutually exclusive. Players should have to choose between Elves or Dwarves. The skill tree chosen would be the only one you could get the highest advantages in. You could still learn some from the others, just not their most skillful crafts. This would make for better gameplay.
 * Perhaps you could just choose a faction and level up through some activity integrated into gameplay without pausing to spend points
 * I don’t think smithing should be its own thing, but would be one feature of high Dwarven, Elven, or Orcist skill with slight differences.
 * I’m conflicted about whether we should have a Mannish skill tree. Most of the renowned lore of Númenor was learned from elves, but there could be a case for that.

In total I think this is interesting food for thought but needs more development.