New Spell and New Spellement Packs

[JaredSpellFrost]

Blaze Lifehammer uploaded a review video of this new Pack, check it out!:

The spell seems somewhat balanced by its limited copies, but this is offset by the deeply rooted PTW aspects of it IMO.

[Eric Stormbringer]

Yeah, uh, no. What is KingsIsle thinking, locking this spell behind a terrible paywall?? I thought that the predatory EA execs left the company! And isn't MGI doing anything to halt these blatantly harmful business practices?

Steal Pip isn't even a spell that Players voted on in the Spellement polls, which I find a bit odd. Plus, Steal Pip isn't exactly a spell befitting of the lawful Balance class- that's why it's function was fitted into the Shadow School! I mean, Balance is a perfect support class that has a spell to donate pips, not take them away. "Cheaty" spells like this should be reserved for bosses and Shadow spells, not slotted into the 7 Schools. So much for the Devs focusing on "school identity"...
I certainly hope that we won't be seeing the upcoming Spellemental spells be introduced in this way. These spells offer an obvious advantage to whoever has them trained, so locking them behind an RNG paywall and devilishly insane droprates is not the way to go.

"Better yet – when this special deal renews, it’ll renew at the same price and you’ll continue to receive a Deluxe Spellement Pack every 7 days!"
Translation: We will scam unsuspecting Players who forget to turn off this auto-billing system.

1)Selling spells isn't predatory- it's especially not predatory when it's $2 for a spell outright and guaranteed spellements every week.

2)Balance isn't the lawful school- it's the school of drawing aspects from other schools and synergizing them. Balance already has pip manipulation via donate power and mana burn. While I do think steal pip would be better as a death spell(death spells steal afterall and death also has pip manipulation via empower)- it's a very easy argument to make lore wise for fitting this spell into balance.

[JaredSpellFrost]

1)Selling spells isn't predatory- it's especially not predatory when it's $2 for a spell outright and guaranteed spellements every week. 2)Balance isn't the lawful school- it's the school of drawing aspects from other schools and synergizing them. Balance already has pip manipulation via donate power and mana burn. While I do think steal pip would be better as a death spell(death spells steal afterall and death also has pip manipulation via empower)- it's a very easy argument to make lore wise for fitting this spell into balance.

Death and Myth would be a good fit for Steal Pip, but not Balance. Sorcerers already have Pip manipulation spells, and most notably of the two is Donate Power. It seems a bit contradictive to give them Steal Pip when A: Balance is a support school, B: Donate Power reflects this, and C: They already have offensive Pip manipulation via Mana Burn.

The Pip stealing mechanic is directly copied from the Shadow School, an aspect of magic more closely related to Death, Fire, Myth and Storm. It's weird, chaotic, and dangerous magic runs opposite to the Balance school, which seeks to find harmony in all things.


Balance Description:

The Magic of Balance is harmony and finding equality in all things.

Shadow Description:

Shadow Magic enhances the spells you cast while the Shadow Magic spell is in effect. It is unstable and difficult to control. Players will need to learn how to best manage Shadow Magic and learn how to harness its very powerful benefits.

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We have been bombarded by endless promotions with zero Crown Sales from KingsIsle for over a year now, with no end in sight. The Spellemental system has already been established as PTW and predatory, and this Pack is no different. Sure, it's only $2, but when considered in the larger context of this whole mess it suddenly becomes a lot less rosy. We have yet another powerful spell locked behind an RNG paywall, so tell me- how is this good for the game?
Such promotions become predatory when they are spammed, are PTW, have significant RNG involved, and/or sell useless items. Given the fact that this game is targeted for children does KingsIsle no favors here either!

[LucasBoomstone]

I like the more focused pack. I usually go for certain packs for furniture, and get disappointed when I receive gear and permanent mounts instead. Can only assume those buying packs for Spellements feel the same. Although I'm not so keen on this being the only way to get Steal Pip for the time being.

But for a (likely short) amount of time, this is a relatively fantastic deal, not counting the Spellements!

[Kokyota]

This is a pass from me I already hate the spellement idea. I hope this isn't a new thing that is gonna happen :/

I agreed. I am not a fan of Spellement. I hope this buying of spells is a one-off thing.

[BaronvonWolf]

Death and Myth would be a good fit for Steal Pip, but not Balance. Sorcerers already have Pip manipulation spells, and most notably of the two is Donate Power. It seems a bit contradictive to give them Steal Pip when A: Balance is a support school, B: Donate Power reflects this, and C: They already have offensive Pip manipulation via Mana Burn.

The Pip stealing mechanic is directly copied from the Shadow School, an aspect of magic more closely related to Death, Fire, Myth and Storm. It's weird, chaotic, and dangerous magic runs opposite to the Balance school, which seeks to find harmony in all things.


Balance Description:


Shadow Description:

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We have been bombarded by endless promotions with zero Crown Sales from KingsIsle for over a year now, with no end in sight. The Spellemental system has already been established as PTW and predatory, and this Pack is no different. Sure, it's only $2, but when considered in the larger context of this whole mess it suddenly becomes a lot less rosy. We have yet another powerful spell locked behind an RNG paywall, so tell me- how is this good for the game?
Such promotions become predatory when they are spammed, are PTW, have significant RNG involved, and/or sell useless items. Given the fact that this game is targeted for children does KingsIsle no favors here either!

Balance is not just a support class having you seen some of the damage we can do? and its not the only school who can steal/remove a pip lord of winter removes 3 and celestial calendar steals a pip. Why can ice even remove pips its not fitting to the school, i can see why myth can somewhat

death can be argued to be a better tank than ice as most end game boss have a ton armor piercing making shields useless

[JaredSpellFrost]

Balance is not just a support class having you seen some of the damage we can do? and its not the only school who can steal/remove a pip lord of winter removes 3 and celestial calendar steals a pip. Why can ice even remove pips its not fitting to the school, i can see why myth can somewhat

I know, Balance can be great solo and can really exert that offensive pressure (Especially in PvP). It is true that Balance is uniquely suited to be a support class too though, as they were originally designed to excel in group play.

I agree, the Pip steal utility on Lord of Winter is a bit out of place. This kind of utility is more befitting of the Myth school, though I could see it with Death after what @Eric Stormbringer said.

[Dylan Windwalker]

I though Kingsisle was moving towards making a "Loremaster" type of boss that specifically drops of known the known spellements or Kingsisle was going to implement spellements into Quest Rewards in lower level quests similarly to the Karamelle Spellement drops...

Were they going to do that?? Are they still going to or was this another game-saving idea thrown out by the money-hungry business-side of Kingsisle??

[Pegasus Unbound]

WOW, so much hostility

I knew there would be some who would not be interested, just as with other promotions, but I am really shocked by the sheer hostility in this thread.

Folks, it's a game, and only $2 a month. If you don't want it, simply don't buy it but you do not need to become rabid over it.

It has good points, and bad points; I can take it or leave it (not gonna tell my own decision) but either way, it's not worth it for me to get all hot and bothered.

Hugs!

[Eric Stormbringer]

Death and Myth would be a good fit for Steal Pip, but not Balance. Sorcerers already have Pip manipulation spells, and most notably of the two is Donate Power. It seems a bit contradictive to give them Steal Pip when A: Balance is a support school, B: Donate Power reflects this, and C: They already have offensive Pip manipulation via Mana Burn.

The Pip stealing mechanic is directly copied from the Shadow School, an aspect of magic more closely related to Death, Fire, Myth and Storm. It's weird, chaotic, and dangerous magic runs opposite to the Balance school, which seeks to find harmony in all things.

None of what you cited shows in any way that shadow is the opposite of balance. The very essence of balance is that it has no true opposite and that it draws on aspects of all of the other schools. Even if we argue that stealing pips is inherently not a balance attribute- the ability of balance to take and manipulate other magics still allows this spell to fall within it's purview.

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We have been bombarded by endless promotions with zero Crown Sales from KingsIsle for over a year now, with no end in sight. The Spellemental system has already been established as PTW and predatory, and this Pack is no different. Sure, it's only $2, but when considered in the larger context of this whole mess it suddenly becomes a lot less rosy. We have yet another powerful spell locked behind an RNG paywall, so tell me- how is this good for the game?
Such promotions become predatory when they are spammed, are PTW, have significant RNG involved, and/or sell useless items. Given the fact that this game is targeted for children does KingsIsle no favors here either!

This has absolutely nothing to do with crowns sales or the perceived lack thereof. It's literally you pay $2 and you get the spell- no crowns involved. The spell is also not locked behind an rng paywall- you are guaranteed to get this spell upon purchase-no rng involved whatsoever. Finally, MGI has already mentioned that Wiz's target audience is now 20-35 year old so that's an argument that no longer applies.