by Silhouette » Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:10 am
Hm. I missed a lot of posts.
While I sympathize with the Heavy RP Environment vs. Mechanical Environment bit, Nightwing, suffice to say I just don't think this can be gotten around completely without something being done about sprite size, and I absolutely abhor the idea of removing options or restricting playstyles for any player.
I admit, I was unaware of how the stomp mechanic worked, entirely, but I still assert that all of this seems to stem from the same place, and it still worries me that, much like Arbon? mentioned, this is just one step along the road to getting rid of micros and their functionality altogether.
I mean, look at some of the posts, here? Hiding in the bar with trench coats and blending in giving people an advantage... how many people have to complain about that before we are going to ban micros from having trench coats, or any clothing except a light up 'here be micros' sign? Someone in discord mentioned Micros using Stun Batons and Toolboxes, and sneaking up on or rushing unsuspecting characters who would otherwise see them coming if they were larger... do we eventually ban those, as well? Clearly, some people here in this very thread, and also on Discord, have declared some great support for the idea of 'helpless micros' who shouldn't be able to do things they wouldn't realistically be able to do... which is almost anything. Are we going to make micros into an effective substitute for mice, completely non-functional and ineffective crewmembers because that's what a 'heavy RP environment' would demand? (Off-Topic, but Interesting idea for NPC swap: Change mice into unnamed micros)
Don't get me wrong, I know no-one here, aside from maybe one person, is close to advocating any of these things directly, but if our motivations are to 'balance micros' because they either have too many advantages, or have abilities inappropriate for a heavy-RP environment, and something isn't done about the base problem, i.e. the sprite is too damn small, I firmly believe we're just going to end up back here eventually, and then another character option is potentially on the chopping block, ad infinitum.
Personally, I've always liked to think of Micros as have little specially distributed mass belts that have a sort of 'mass effect', which allows them to interact with objects and people much larger than them. Not a perfect solution, and clearly just an idea, but I find that the better of the middle roads, in this case, is one that still allows for fully functional micro crewmembers (as in, able to perform their chosen profession with only minimal alteration in procedure) rather than mice who can do nothing but squeak and skitter.
I assert again, that discretion allows for adjustment where appropriate; Hard Rules and Mechanics do not.