Suggestions to Improve the Mer

[Moon]

I know after the glitches and stuff that this isn't high on the agenda but I just wanted to talk about it and hear peoples thoughts on the mater.

Mer have already gone through a few revisions probably more than most races, but as some one who played one of the early mer, it was needed. I decided to give the mer a second chance because they inspire me creatively but they have quite a few restrictions that still make them frustrating to play.

Category 1-3 are apparently only able to stick their head out of the water or they have trouble breathing. if the want to go on land to thread with other people they have to spend three trials completely helpless in a slime cocoon only to go on land where they're awkward and helpless. If they don't change back before 5 days their legs are stuck permanently but they also slowly die unless they spend another 3 days transforming in a helpless cocoon. The lore even says this is a practice few mer dare to try but out of character they have to if a player wants to do more than just solo.

category 4 have an easier time going on land but also bleed and their lungs collapse after 5 days, there's also Tibbitus which causes Sea mer (like my PC) to bloat when they go in fresh water rivers. Krome is one of the few settlements in Andaris that is welcoming to mer, but most Mer will bloat and suffocate before they even reach the city. Tibbitus wouldn't be bad on it's own if it weren't for the other restrictions placed on mer.


I understand where these restrictions are coming from, mer have telepathy, they can breath under water and mer aren't as limited in their physical traits. I can also see why realistically some of these concepts would be implemented but mechanically I just don't think its the right way to go about this. This is a collaborate writing site so limiting a races ability to do so doesn't seem like the best way to balance them out.



Okay now for my suggestions,

One idea is to give them distinct sea and land forms, one that can breathe underwater and one that can breathe on land. You could combine the type 4 with the racial ability and just make it be the land form. The transforming time would be reduced to a break or two, since spending arcs helpless in a cocoon is unlikely to happen. It would mean that a Mer couldn't just escape into the water and swim away, they would have to hide and plan to get back into their stronger sea form but in a way that creates rp tension and not excessive out of character planning. With this idea I wouldn't take issue with Tibbitus still being in affect.

There is also the idea my friend gave me that mer can easily transform and walk along land for as long as they want but only at night. They have to head back before dawn or they shift back and suffocate. I wouldn't like Tibbitus in addition to this revision.

Lastly the idea that Mer be able to grant other races the ability to breath underwater so they could take people on under sea adventures. With this idea on its own I suggest minimizing Mer's restrictions but lowering the transforming time and giving them more days to play around on land. I wouldn't like Tibbitus in addition to this revision.

[Rumour]

Hi Moon,

Thanks for taking the time to make these suggestions! We definitely appreciate that you're coming to the table with a lot of IC mer experience.

I'm not sure if any further changes will be implemented on the mer, since they've had a number of edits in the past, but I'll absolutely make sure that Nymph and the Developer team take these suggestions into consideration! They may choose to comment here or hold a discussion behind-the-scenes when a bit of time comes up for them to focus on this.

Cheers,
Rumour

[Moon]

thank you for the reply
I know that the mer have received a lot of edits which is why I held off on saying anything. I'd appreciate if it was considered but I also know everyone is busy and I might be the only one playing the race at the moment (i'm not sure if Amp is still active.) I'm figuring out a way to get a human form for Moon in the mean time and maybe more mer will start cropping up and being active.

[Rumour]

My pleasure!

It will definitely be considered - no worries about that. I'm just not sure on the timing piece. We'd love to have more players make a mer character (they're an awesome race), so any suggestions you have to help encourage this are always welcome.

Cheers,
Ru

[Moon]

Thank you I'd really like to see more Mer players, I want enough to form a small tribe of players