Cabal Power's Helpfiles

So obviously people in cabals have advantages in the form of cabal powers, and disadvantages in their responsibilities to said cabals. Each cabal has an assortment of powers, and some players have been around long enough to rotate through and learn them all. And of course, Imms can just read them all at anytime. Is "the school of hard knocks" a fair method for newer players to learn about the capabilities of a cabal power? Isn't the fact they have to deal with a caballed player already enough? Doesn't it seem like some caballed players are going to get some free kills off new people strictly due to the fact they dont know whats coming at them? I'd like peoples opinions. I have zero horse in this race, I've read all the helpfiles, I'm as prepared as you can be. But I feel like a lot of people, either new players, or vets who don't like cabals, wouldn't mind being able to read up a bit to discover weaknesses and workarounds.

I say definitely not. Cabal stuff is supposed to be secret and no cabal power is so game changing as all that.

I decided to come back to this post and elaborate a little on my feelings. Each of the cabals have had enough things in them change in the past few years that I am sure most of the people who are supposedly in the know are not actually in the know. As far as Imms being able to read the helpfiles, gotta see the powers list to know to look for new helpfiles. I am fairly certain all the cabals have new toys that I don't know what they are, because I haven't made one in all the others lately.

Also @Ashlyn, I disagree Warlord has the best stuff.

I voted no. Do the work to get the knowledge. Only the Keeper and Legion powers are OP anyway.

@Dogran Warlord has some very necessary stuff for not being able to use magic. Also the coolest stuff. The best power is reliant on combat advantage and is easily foiled. So, not as OP.

Wtf... warlords have the best stuff?. You got to be joking...

I voted yes, and vampire powers too.

I know the cabal abilities, I know the vampire abilities. Voting yes does not help me in any way whatsoever.

I voted yes because this game is hard as fuck and vets have enough of a massive advantage over anyone stage 1-4 that they don't need a single extra advantage in the form of enforced secrecy about things.

In a poll that basically says 'should this benefit veterans or should this benefit newish players', I will smash that 'benefit newish' players button every goddamn time.

https://abandonedrealms.com/essays/stages.php

I vote yes, 100% agree with Kalist.

It's not that hard to make something to get into each of the cabals, and just play the game and learn them. The problem is, at what point, do we peel back so much that there is no longer new stuff to find? I am going to have to cycle through the other cabals again at some point so I can learn what the other stuff has again, just because stuff changes and evolves constantly.

Legion powers

Level 1 Gank  Full loot

Level 2 Multikill Full loot

Level 3 Whiny note about someone not defending Full loot

Level 4 Full loot

Level 5 (leader) discord DM with ooc pals

(Disclaimer: this is a joke post, do not mass delete the entire legion cabal)

You've jumped the gun and dropped all the relevant legion stuff before we even got general consensus Dav. Just for that, some of them are bound to protest delete now.

I believe Dav alone gets to decide this stuff... While it would've been nice sometimes to not have to edit some of my logs, I feel people should learn what the cabals and vampires do by observation, not by reading every help file in the game.

Unless something a cabal does is so outwardly obvious that it affects them noticeably when used (Justice wanted flag, Knight crusade, Warlord deathmark), I don't feel it should be disclosed.

Needless to say, I voted no.

The logboard automatically edits it out now, I believe.

BW, I pretty much never post anything for my own gratification, that's what masturbating is for. If you're seeing something from me feeling out the general playerbase, you can rightly assume it's because I ran it by Davairus and was given a positive response about the possibility of that change happening, based off general consensus.

Well I am going to post an actual devil's advocate response since it seems nobody else is jumping on it. Cabal power information is a lot like "porn". Think about the latest Hollywood chicks on the block, they have a whole lot more appeal until the nudes get out there. So then question, is the Dogran nudes something we really want, or will it turn out that we don't actually like what we see and that just kills any buzz Legion had. Ideally you'd want the outcome to be a deeper appreciation for AR and make it enjoyable. I think mystery can be more useful in tha regard. And I don't think it is good to strip down the cabals to a list of buffs. i.e. "Which cabal has the poisoning charmie" "which cabal has the double damage attack with a 10% chance to work and requires a sword and combat advantage" . I'd support basic need-to-know information over no information of course. but I'd also much rather we have a mysterious occult cabal than a detailed list of affect outputs. Just like I'd much rather see Dogran in a black shirt and pants than naked with just a gun for a fig leaf

Haha

He's not wrong. Reality is always disappointing. Mystery and Anticipation heighten enjoyment.

I've struggled with how to answer this because I hold two truths: that mystery and mystique are an important component of AR and that gatekeeping information can be discouraging to newer players.

With that in mind, I'd recommend a compromise: a cabal WELCOME help file available to new members that outlines duties, powers, and commands in a concise manner. I'll admit that, when I joined my first cabal years ago, I didn't even understand how to use the command "cb" to communicate or the command "powers" to see what new kit might be available to me (I stumbled into both after some trial and error). If the information were collected in this fashion for new members, it would at least encourage newer players to try each cabal so that they could understand the road before them.

Perhaps this doesn't address the primary concern of "less mystery, less anxiety" for all players, but it may encourage some to try something they hadn't considered before, at least for reconnaissance.

I voted no, the reason being because like alot of folks have stated. Most newbies are very much lost in everything, which is fine cause over time and a helpful player base like we have, we help and teach them as they go and ask. Even with just our help there is still so much they will learn as they explore. We have loads of stuff packed in this game. Once they probably get a good feel for the game itself they might think of joining a Cabal in which case they would probably have to flesh out a new character to align with said Cabals. To me if they want to just join a Cabal because they read the powers then what is the point of RP because of the shiny cool things I know I can do once I get them. To me it should be more about an RP aspect to join a Cabal, to enrich your fun in this game. Once I get into a said Cabal I will see what I get, if its awesome hooray if its not whatever make the best of it cause I joined this Cabal for a RP standpoint, not because it has shiny cool Dogran Nudes.

Legion powers are so shit that the only ones Dav listed have actually been used thus far.

But Legion doesn't need "op" powers, because it's made for veteran griefers and those don't need crutches like Knights or Warlords. No need to give OP xenyar more OP powers.

Dav's response is suspiciously specific, are you doing okay? Who hurt you?