[Norfleet]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
Of all the default themes, only Atlantis (which has no theme) seems hurting. Any feelings on this?

Probably because in a tossmatch between Atlantis and R'lyeh....rarely is there enough ocean space on a map for BOTH, R'lyeh usually wins the toss for what to play, for both thematic niftiness and ability. Once the next player sees R'lyeh is in the game, the oceans are then too crowded for both of them.

There's also the fact that Atlantis, by necessity, is pushed in the direction of clamhoarding, due to the limited number of effective behaviors one can engage in with primarily Water magic, and most of these aren't big gem-consumers, with the exceptions of clam hoarding, or Sea King hoarding, the latter of which necessitates a rather antagonistic behavior pattern which can be potentially counterproductive to long-term survival in MP.

S&A got more votes than default -- hm.

This in spite of being a turmoil theme: The authorities I've spoken to still believe S&A is better than the standard theme. I tend to agree, as their mages are much better. The turmoil still bites, though.

I would also like to hear more from Arco players about why -- I have actually never finished or even got into an Arco game. Despite their having a very strong team and some of the best cost-effective mages in the game (mystics), I have found them to be just very unsexy, and never found them cool enough to "enjoy". Powerful, yes, but fun?

Probably because the lack of consistency in the mages means that any mystic you hire will be a random crapshoot of magic paths, so you can't slap on a one-size-fits-all config. This turns Arco mage-management into a micromanagement hell that tends to push most people beyond their tolerance for pain.

In this light, it is worthy to note that a very few number of people like their Favorites because of power -- rather more, because of fun; I would like to know what the Arco players think about this.

ARCO IS SHINY! How can you resist the potential to be able to play with every single magic toy in the game, through your widely varied magic paths that give you just about anything, if you hire enough of them and summon the right ones? With only a little pretender aid, Arco has access to any magic in the game: IT IS SHINY! OOH! SHINY!