Update to Magics and Mythic Guardians

Area: Magic, Chimes, Deity Quests, and Guardians. 
Urgency: No urgency.
Suggestion: A restructure for the magic system, magic from mythic guardians included (re-balance them).
Additional Information: There are several reasons for this running through my head. Off of the top, simply to streamline the gained magic concept, make it simpler to understand, to allow a bit more flexibility for choosing magic, and possibly add in some more excitement! 
Sometimes it takes me a few tries to explain something that everyone can understand. So please, ask questions if confused! ^_^

• This also isn't an all or nothing. but I'm not half-baking the suggestion either. I'm just going to lay it out how I can see it. As it is right now, it's a one-sided thought without any friends to go "oh, but we can do ___ !" It is very possible there is some aspect I don't see because I'm too "close" to the entire thing.
  

With the current chime system, as is, it is possible to achieve: 
(depending what one chooses for second and third magics, and if they've applied all possible magics)

• 6 level one Lesser magics
  
• 7-9 completely mastered Lesser magics, with 6 being from the same region
  
• 5-7 completely mastered Greater Magics, with 5 being from the same region 
  
• 1  Astral magic 
  

Meaning: Mastering all magics in 1 region, and dabbling with 0-9 magics in other regions depending on your choices for your quirls. This could easily turn to 2 regions with mastered greater magics. That involves mythic guardians though. More on that near the end.



First up. 
When asking for the reasoning behind the current reason why chime magic is done the way it is, weakness was the reason. So, let's focus on that real quick. Characters grow as they're used, and the chime system reflects this. However, as characters grow, learn how to deal with a weakness and compensate/become stronger in that area, they often find a new weakness/become weaker in another area. Now, keep that in mind and bear with me for the rest until we get to discussing weakness.



Changes to gaining Magic from the Chime system.
Instead of gaining specific levels to a single chosen magic, what if Magic Points are gained instead? 



Why Magic Points, what's the difference? The points would allow a member to choose to either level up a magic, or to gain a new magic. So at chime 20, you get your first magic point, which obviously is going to be used to gain your first lesser magic. At chime 40, you would receive a second magic point. Now, the member has an option. Unlock a new magic, or level up a magic? Do you balance or specialize your character? 



Sounds a little overpowered? All in all, if you count all current and total magic level ups and new magic gains, that is 43 total points, excluding the 1 Astral regional magic. 

• The amount of points is only the first check to the balance. 
  
• The second check; there are only 30 greater magics available to choose, and we cap it at only 25 can be learned. Not mastered, but learned.
  
• The third check, your quirl must have 1 mastered lesser magic before you can have any mastered greater magics in a specific region. Want to master Golem Summoning and Necromancy in the Plains region? Your quirl will have to master one of the six lesser magics first.
  
• The fourth check is weakness. There is a section for this after the numbers with magic points.
  
• Then comes the fifth and final check to the balance, mythic guardians. This will be gotten to last.
  

With the change to magic points in the chime system, it would be possible to achieve (again, depending on how one wants to allot them and accounting for only is all 43 points are used)

• 1 - 36 level one lesser magics
  
• 0 - 21 level 2 lesser magics
  
• 0 - 25 level 1 greater magics
  
• 0 - 15 mastered greater magics (hello glass cannons)
  
• 1 Astral magic
  

Those are just the possible min and max to the extremes. This also allows it so a quirl doesn't have to completely master a region's magics for a few they want, unless members want that for their quirl.



Weakness: 
This section is divided into two parts. The reasoning for this is.. 
One, so members may continue to grow and use their characters as they wish & get used to and/or practice part 2. 
Two, to have a fourth check in a balance that will be needed for land battles and any other forms of true pvp interactions.


Part 1: On the Regions/Magics page, add to each section on which magics each land is strong/neutral/weak there. That's it. Members may take this into account for their characters if they wish, but they don't have to. This would suggest that depending on where a quirl lives, travels, and where their land is depends on their current magical strengths and weakness regardless of unlearned/learned/mastered magic. This goes back to the whole, characters change and as such so can/do their weaknesses. 


Part 2: With the chart being determined by land, this means weaknesses are bound to the land where deities live and not to outright to the qurils and deities themselves. This also does not pit magic against magic as much, and only goes off of the natural environment and a natural effect that would occur when being there for a time. Think of the lands as being full of magical energy from the deities being there and quirls are like batteries. So a quirl who was recently in the Wind region for land quests would have a stored up amount of Air magic in them.
Theoretical chart.

• Amplified - the natural magic of the land the battle is taking place.
  
• Weakened - two magics
  
• Neutral - all other magics
  

What does this effect though? 
This would affect pvp events, like land battles, and have any other effects members might wish to put their characters through. This does not mean that any learned magic has a limitation to use. Only a limitation in power when being applied to battle. Think of amplified as being stronger than normal. Neutral is normal. Weakened is less than normal. This is already similarly in use when talked about as for picking a region for a quirl to start in..This goes beyond that, and for battles, the last region the Defender quirl and Challenger quirl were "seen" in would be used for their chart. Which, thus, would affect the strengths of the magic the owner's chose for their quirls to use.


Defender Example: Desert region. Fire magic would be the strongest for the defender to use. Air and Water magics are the weakest the defender could use. All other magics would have normal effects on the challenger.
Challenger Example: The quirl was last in the WInd Region for deity quests. Air magic would be the strongest for the quirl to use. Dark and Earth magics would be their weakest to use. All other magics would have neutral power. 


Owner's choices for their quirl's actions would have a direct effect on how well their quirl does in a battle. If they are the defender, their best tactic would be to use their strongest Fire attacks for the added power from the region they were in. It wouldn't do them much good to try to use Air or Water magics due to the power weakness, even if some of their mastered magics are in that area. The same concept goes for if they are the challenger. This type of power check will help create a balance with magic points.



Mythic Guardians: 
Currently, there are six that provide dark magic (three of which give venom), four each in psychic and water magics (two in water which give water breathing), and that leaves fire, earth, and air magic with only two each. If you're seeing an influx of quirls choosing the greater magics Plague Magic and Probability Manipulation for their second and third magics, it's because those are the only two not covered by the guardians. Meaning, with the Cocktrice, Harpy, Selkie, and those two magics chosen, a quirl has all of the Swamp greater magics mastered long before reaching All Magics of a Region. Which, when they do reach it, the member then gets to choose a whole another region for their quirl to completely master. I wouldn't be surprised to see a large number of quirls currently taking advantage of this, and it leaves everything out of balance as is. So regardless, re-balancing these would be for the better. There are two ways to do this though. One is to look at it as if magic points will be added in, and the other as if they won't be.


Let's look at the mythic guardians and their current blessings as they are.

• Arachne: additional legs and *venom. 
  
• Basillisk: Basilisk *scales and *venom. 
  
• Chimera: *additional heads, or snake tail, and dream projection. 
  
• Cocktrice: cock head and life eater. 
  
• Dragon: dragon *scales and treasure/gold x2. 
  
• Fairy: plant magic and telepathy. 
  
• Griffin: griffin *talons and clairvoyance. 
  
• Harpy: *Talons and/or feathered tail. 
  
• Hell Hound: treasure/gold x2 and hellfire manipulation. 
  
• Hydra: *additional heads and *venom. 
  
• Kirin: kirin scales and golden horn/hooves. 
  
• Kitsune: fox tail(s) and illusion magic. 
  
• Leviathon: water generation and water *breathing. 
  
• Manticore: scorpion tail and lion mane. 
  
• Mermaid: mermaid *scales and water walking. 
  
• Naga: naga scales and half snake body. 
  
• Phoenix: immortality and pyrokinesis. 
  
• Roc: size 20-30hh and air manipulation. 
  
• Selkie: shapeshifting and water *breathing. 
  
• Thunder Bird: feathers and lightning manipulation. 
  
• Troll: saplings charm and golem summoning.
  

All *'s pertain to the same or very similar blessings. 16 out of the 21 mythic guardians provide a blessing for magic. As it stands. they allow for 8 greater and 9 lesser magics to be mastered. When added to a total count of the current chime magics system, that is from 6 level lesser, 18 mastered lesser, and 13 mastered greater magics |or| 6 level 1 lesser, 16 mastered lesser, and 15 mastered greater magics. Which again, the balance of the magics they give are off.



For right now, let's balance the visual blessing these guys provide. I noticed the difference between normal guardians and mythic guardians, and wondered why the same type of blessing couldn't be given. It would make it overall more streamlined, and give a few other options. 
Examples. Arachne, instead of  additional legs and venom, it could be changed to additional legs/arachnid traits and venom. Manticore, could be 1 manticore trait and then given a magical blessing.

• If streamlined, the Kirin, Manticore, and Naga could join the ranks of mythic guardians that provide a magical blessing. 
  
• This would allow for a bit more customization and a few other features. Multiple eyes? Snake tongue? Feathery ears?
  

If chime magic is changed..
Magics in chimes was moved to magic points, mythic guardians could still provide a roll in blessing quirls with magic, but on a much smaller note of 1 magic point per each. This reduces the risk of repeating magic blessings and unbalancing any regions. It more mythic familiars are added, there wouldn't be any real change.



If chime magic is not changed..
Magic stays as is, a portion of the magic blessing should be changed and equalized.
Arachne, Basilisk, and Hyra for example all give venom. 
Leviathon and Selkie both give water breathing.  



Here is a full list of their magic blessings per region.

Mountain 

• Chimera - dream projection
  
• Fairy - telepathy
  
• Griffin - clairvoyance
  
• Kitsune - illusion
  

Icy 

• Leviathon - water generation
  
• Leviathon - water breathing*
  
• Mermaid - water walking
  
• Selkie - water breathing*
  

Desert 

• Hellhound - hellfire manipulation
  
• Phoenix - pyrokinesis
  

Plains 

• Fairy - plant magic
  
• Troll - golem summoning
  

Swamp

• Arachne - venom*
  
• Basilisk - venom*
  
• Cocktrice - life eater
  
• Harpy - magic eater
  
• Hydra - venom*
  
• Selkie - shapeshifting
  

I thought about adding a little of suggested magic to replace the ones with and possibly to add to others, but I feel like it's time to finally post this. I want to thank the staff for all their hard work, for answering the many questions they get, and the time y'all put in. <3

To offer some feedback and pipe in, I have to admit the suggestion you made for the magic change just left me really confused, but I was also really confused the first time I read about the chime system, so that might be just me. But since I don't understand it, I don't think I can be very helpful with feedback concerning that pitch
However, I do agree with the guardians pitch, I remember the first time reading them I wondered how come some of them are the same, and I can see the magics per region are unbalanced and I think it'd be pretty nifty if each one was unique and the balance of regional powers available was more balanced out! I didn't really think about it very much until you made this suggestion, so thanks for taking the time to track everything down and put it all in this post :3

So on first read, I like a lot of your ideas! 

I'm going to go through in a similar fashion to your own post just to make sure I hit the major points. I will also be playing a bit of devils advocate   For the purpose of this response I will be referencing the current magic system as the "Original", and the system you propose as the "New". 

---

Magic Points & System Change

Addressing these two in the same blurb. 
The most time consuming and difficult thing in my personal opinion would be the conversion process. Creating a new magic system, and figuring out how to best handle the conversion for the existing Quirlicorns, as well as existing members having a new magic system to learn (on top of our recent change to using the website) would add a lot more to members & admins plates. While it does allow older players to continue using the Original magic system to whatever ends they please, keeping track of a multitude of lesser magics, what their levels are, and what they are capable of at each level could potentially lead to misunderstandings in the magic system. Even experienced members find themselves double checking what magic can do at each level - now imagine, for example, entering a Joust (or in the future Land Battles), getting paired with a Quirlicorn with a bunch of magics unlocked at various levels, and figuring out what ways the magic could interact and how best to display the Quirls in question. 

Another thing that comes to mind is the fact that you can gain a wide variety of magic by leveling your Quirl and participating in events. For example, my girl Khaalida has 24 magics unlocked fully at this time. Granted, that is looking at a deity status Quirl as an example. I leveled her how I wanted her story to progress, then I used a Phoenix Touch on her to change what I wanted and gave her a wide variety of magic, plus those she gained from events & such. Besides gaining more guardians and doing more events, she is at a pretty happy level of magic where I feel she could do a whole heck of a lot for her land. 
There is already several routes you can go with the current magic system, and ways to change it if you realize you don't like what you have. Why go through the trouble of creating a new system, keeping track of a bunch of different lower level/unmastered magics, and potentially ending up with misunderstandings of a more complex magic system if you can already gain a lot of magic via dedicating time to a character and participating in events? 

I'm pushing the devils advocate in this section because I would love to hear your further feedback on how the system itself could be fleshed out to both be easy to understand and keep track of. While I do like the idea, I feel like it would need some more polishing to really make it shine. 

Weaknesses

I love the idea of weaknesses identified for each region. While it might not mean much for members who aren't huge into the character building side of things, for those who are it would make it a nice way to develop more complex characters with dynamic magic. 
However, 'keeping track' of where a Quirl has been and using that as a way to define how strong their magic is could once again, get complicated. In regards to pvp/character battles, I feel like it would be better suited to the land the Quirls are *currently* in rather than where they have been. Following your example - 

Desert Region
Amplified: Desert Magics
Weaker: Windy Magics
Neutral: All Other

In a simple 1v1 tradeoff for the regions, it wouldn't put too much of a disadvantage on All Regions Quirlicorns traveling through who happen to battle. It would also help keep the "Oh well my Quirl was in X Land" claims that may or may not be true to boost magics. 
In the case of a battle in the desert - any desert magic is stronger, any windy magic is weaker (in this example, because fire requires oxygen to thrive). On the flip side, a battle in the Icy Region Icy would be stronger, and Fire Weaker, because water can put out flames. 

Idea for the Strength/Weaknesses when in the specific regions: 
Desert - Desert Magic is Stronger, Windy is Weaker
Icy - Icy Magic is Stronger, Desert is Weaker
Swamp - Swamp Magic is Stronger, Mountains Magic is Weaker
Windy - Windy Magic is Stronger, Plains is Weaker
Plains - Plains Magic is Stronger, Icy Magic is Weaker
Mountains - Mountains Magic is stronger, Swamp is Weaker. 

Why I suggested them that way: 
Playing off the Elements of Fire, Earth, Water, Wind, Light and Dark. Mountains in this case would stand in for Light, and Swamp for dark. 

Anyway back to my original point. Having the base strengths/weaknesses for each region would play into how Quirls choose to react to certain situations, and what magics they used.
However, then you look at 'Natural' Quirls. Naturals are locked into one region until 250 Chimes, when they can choose gain a Mutation gene. So they cannot pick from all types of magic like an All Regions Mutation Quirl could. From a purely RP/Character building side of things, that does put a Quirl either at an advantage or disadvantage. But then again, one could go back with a PT later down the line and change up the magics after their mutation gene is unlocked.

Guardians

So on the note of Guardians and their various regions. It does make sense to balance the guardians in some form. I am for the idea of adding more kinds of mythical guardians, and balancing out the number of guardians for each region and what they can protect against. There are are current several curses that do not have a specific Guardian attached to them and require a 'regular' guardian to get rid of. 
However, since each guardian protects against something different, more unique and perhaps generalized features like you stated would be interesting indeed. 
Perhaps, using the Kirin for example, one could receive 'Kirin traits' and one lesser magic of their region (and/or choosing if all regions). In popular media the Kirin has been seen in many forms (traditional, Ice Kirin, Fire Kirin, yadda yadda) so playing off that something along those lines could work quite nicely. 
Along those same lines, guardians that protect against a curse that is seen in several regions could instead gift a magic of the Quirlicorns home region. (Kirin's and Griffin's protect against plague and famine respectively. Once again in the case of the Kirin, it could gift a lesser magic of that region. Griffins already have clairvoyance so that would be something to potentially change down the line.)

More feedback into Guardians would be needed in my opinion to see what best would work to change in that aspect though  


Closing Thoughts

While I do like many of the ideas that you have put forth, I feel like more refinement would be necessary before any can be put into action. I also feel like some balance and learning curve would be needed, perhaps a compromise along the way (Quirlicorns must first master one magic before being able to dabble in whatever they please?) to fully figure out how best it could work for everyone. Having a set of elemental strengths and weaknesses based off region could make a more interesting dynamic to how we play our characters, and revamping the Guardians to have less overlap and more variety for magic and gifts could create a very interesting options for when Quirlicorns get land and dealing with their various curses that come along with it. 
I mainly played the devils advocate along my initial few read throughs of your suggestion because I do truly like the idea of more dynamic options, but I feel like in some ways you can achieve a lot of that through the normal Chime system if you play your cards right, and if not, there is the Phoenix Touch. 

I look forward to hearing more ideas and feedback! It is *cough* after my bed time and I may have missed or overlooked some aspects

Thank you for the feedback Bear! Lol, yeah. When first looking at it with fresh eyes.. it's a wall of text unfortunately.  I know what you mean though. 



Thank you Aedrielle! A devil's advocate is what's needed to polish this! I wasn't sure if staff wanted to just discuss it together or not though. Discussing it will def help polish it up though! Going to touch on the same notes so I (hopefully) don't miss anything. 



Magic Points & System Change


How will this change the Chime System? 
The beauty with the magic points is that the Chime System won't really change much. Mainly only wording would change. 


Too many magics at once? What about older quirls? 
Quirls would still gain their magic at the same rate as they currently do, except instead they can choose to unlock a new magic instead of leveling up a magic. This way, if members want to still apply the current method, it still works in that way and doesn't interfere with it! 


What about modern vs all region Qurils? 
I'm sure you know the Chime levels well, so I won't repeat all the levels. The first mutation gene that unlocks a modern quirl to all regions is at 150. Upon reaching that, players would receive their fifth magic point also. They could unlock: five lesser magics; three lesser magics with two at level 2; two lesser magics with one mastered and the other at level 2, or master 1 lesser and greater magic; with four of those points being allocated in their quirl's starting region if modern. However, just like with the current system members won't be forced to allocate their magic points right away! They could hold onto them and wait to allocate them when they would like to.


Maybe too many magics at the start, making it confusing?
Those who wish to allocate their quirl’s points in a different region, but have a modern horse, are more likely to wait until chime level 150. 
On the other side of that, some members may like the region their quirl is in, and already have a greater magic they wish to obtain. In which, since it would be a requirement to master a lesser magic before they can learn and master any greater magic in that region, they’ll allocate their points on just two magic, and be right where they would be as if following the old system. 
If a member wants to allocate their quirls magic points as they get them to just start unlocking the ones they want, it might get a little confusing. 


There are a few ways to solve the confusion problem though. The simplest solution is to emphasize on keeping trackers updated. If it’s not added to their quirl’s tracker before being looked at by staff for an event (land challenge or where else it makes a difference), then the change doesn’t count. It may seem a bit harsh, but trackers with proof links are a must for any closed species and it is an individual's own responsibility to upkeep.



What happens to older Quirls if the new system is added? 
There are a few options.

• Left as is.
  
• Given whatever magic points they’d be missing to allocate.
  
• Allowed to revamp their magic completely and start fresh with however many magic points they would have at their quirl’s chime level.
  

Ultimately, the answer to that depends on the feedback from a testing phase. Another question posed to them could be “If implemented, would you like to officially re-do you quirls’ magic?” 



There are already several ways to get magic, why change it?
Yes, I realize there are many ways to get magic, and those ways wouldn’t change! The reason why I proposed this suggestion though, is because of two things. 

• The first, the current system is confusing and takes a bit to get it down. Magic points would streamline the system as in “you get 1 magic point to allot.” That itself is easy enough to understand if anyone has ever played any of the Elder Scrolls, Dragon Quest, D&D, etc games. 
  
• Second, it is also currently impossible to fully customize what magic you want for quirls due to RMM (Regional Magic Mastery) and AMoaR (All Magic of a Region). RMM and AMoaR force you to choose two regions to have your quirl learn magic in, even if you don’t want them having certain magics. 
  
• RMM is also a bit redundant. It will be even more so redundant if more mythic familiars and magic blessings they provide are added. Example, say you selected the Mountain region for a quirl’s RMM. Your quirl also has a Chimera, Fairy, and a Griffin. At the end, you really only receive level 1: Mediumship, Empathy, and Aura Reading; as you already have the other three lesser magics mastered thanks to the benefits of the mythics. Those three, also can’t be leveled up at any point. 
  
• With Magic points instead, that is 6 points inplace of RMM in which a member may allot and obtain the magics they want for their quirl. This new system prevents certain magics from being “wasted” and a regret of not being able to obtain a specific path for a quirl. 
  
• If a member wants a lot of lesser magics unlocked and at level one on a quirl, then they can. If they later decide to change it, Phoenix’s Touch would still allow a quirl’s magics to reset as well. So when someone finishes all levels of their quirl’s chimes, they can use a phoenix’s touch and reset all magic points to re-allocate again!
  
• The numbers I provided was to show what things look like when all magic points are used on a scale of extremes. If someone uses all of a quirls points on all lesser magics and not going over level one, that’s 36 lesser magics and 7 points unused. Same on if someone wishes to go to the extreme to master as many greaters as they can. With 43 points and a requirement to master 1 lesser those specific regions, that is: 3 mastered lesser magics, 15 mastered greater magics, and 4 points left over. With which could be used to master one more lesser magic and unlock a sixteenth greater magic. If mythics are then assigned to give 1 magic point each, and at the current amount, that’s an additional max of 21 points that can be allocated. 
  
• The thing to remember about the magic points, is that you don’t get the full 43 right away. As said, designated areas currently in the chime system where a member’s quirl gains a magic/magic level is when they get points. So..
  
  • 20 - 1 point
    
  • 40 - 1 point
    
  • 80 - 1 point
    
  • 100 - 1 point
    
  • 150 - 1 point
    
  • 250 - 4 points
    
  • 400 - 6 points
    
  • 1000 - 28 points
    
• The reason for keeping it to that method is the same as the current, to help members settle in and have a chance to understand it before applying too much of anything.
  
• As for quests, magics could still be awarded, but this opens up different routes. Maybe only already obtained magic can be randomly leveled up? (Ex, level 1 Illusion, receive a level up and it becomes level 2.) Maybe unique magics that can only be obtained through quests? Or maybe a quest obtained currency that can be spent in a quest shop? A random chance to come across a random quirl/foal to adopt that is special in some way, can’t be obtained any other way? Some with certain new mythic familiars, by chance and no other way? Chance of increasing luck? So many possibilities!
  

[*]


Weaknesses


I honestly did think of just having the weakness stationed to where the land is. I had:

• Region + Strong / Weak
  
• Desert / Icy
  
• Icy / Plains
  
• Windy / Desert
  
• Plains / Windy
  

[*]However, there is an issue with just one weakness. You are then directly making a “who is the strongest here” situation. This would make a lot of matches very predictable in their outcomes. Especially if getting to choose your opponent. If weaknesses are determined by the last land a quirl was in, and have two weaknesses per region, there is more of an even ground and it would be less likely for the system to be taken advantage of.


As for determining the LKL (last known location), this again goes back to trackers. Land quests and chime images would be easy enough. However, if event participation becomes required to be listed in trackers, that will make LKLs all the easier to find. LKLs will only be determined by those works: chime images, quest images, and event images, and the one chosen will be the most recently added before the start of the Land Battle event. 


How to get everyone to list event participation? 
Simply make it a requirement for entry comments/posts to be put and linked to in trackers. If they aren’t linked, then rewards can’t be given. Again, a bit harsh, but it will get members to link their event participations in their trackers. This would only count for if/when starting forward with the new system. Past events participated in won't have to be linked.


What about Modern Quirls?
It’s actually 150 chimes and there is a requirement that only land owning quirls may enter Land Battle events. So if a quirl has land, it’s been through the land quest at least once, 72 chimes worth, or it has completed all of it’s chimes level, 1000 chimes worth. Assuming they’re done with a ref or some other image worth at least 6 chimes, they would only need another 72 chimes (one more land quest), to reach 150 chimes to have access to all regions. 


Yet, this goes back to the weaknesses chart and the chime chart as well. Such a quirl would only have a little magic, and as you said, they would have a great advantage/disadvantage, most likely the later. So if lands have two weaknesses, and it is dependent on where the quirl last was, it makes the changes of an even match between a low leveled quirl and a higher leveled quirl much more likely. 


Another consideration are jousts, chimes obtained from jousts, and endurance overall. Land Battles basically aren’t going to be entered by entry level members. There should probably be a small endurance requirement added to go with the owning land requirement.




I’m with you all the way! Overall, it might take a testing phase with a few fake trackers to see how things might turn out. Having staff and a group of members to act as testers would help a lot to see where something needs tweaked! Using a doc/spreadsheet as fake trackers for their quirls, they could test the magic points system on current and new quirls. For their older quirls, they can track the dates on their art to track time vs chimes earned vs etc.. Then when a handful of new quirls finish their chime levels, end the testing period and ask the involved individuals their thoughts on it. Did they have any struggles keeping it up to date? How often did they get confused? Ups and down to both systems? Etc.. This will allow the most accurate feedback on the proposed new system. As well as make sure nothing is rushed into, and allows for things to settle with the move before there is a change.



Oh gosh, I’m so sorry for the length. XD

woo, so much to take in here. 
So, I want to start off by saying I think there's some things in here that we can definitely look at smoothing out a bit more like reworking the type of magics given by Mythical Guardians to bring a bit more balance there.  
I also think we can definitely work out a system to show what magics are weak to what magics etc.  That could be nice for the Joust Pas d'Armes especially, I think.  

Some things I think simply aren't something we should tackle though.  Completely reworking our current system and changing it to a completely new system is very ouch.  It would require a lot of work from admins and all of the previously leveled Quirlicorns owners would be left sending in for updates which puts some burden on them as well.  
A lot of these changes would also require a significant amount of extra work from admins.  Tracking where Quirlicorns have been last, tracking how many points they have, tracking virtually everything (unfortunately the tracking burden absolutely falls on the admin team and not so much on the members because if a member wants to cheat, the admin team needs to be able to step in and provide proof, and that means tracking would fall on us.) 

The next issue would be that completely reworking our system to a brand new one means our entire member base is confused on how to do things.  I think people coming from RPG backgrounds rather than ARPG backgrounds likely would do better with a system like you are proposing so there's some good validity to it, but those coming from ARPGs will struggle with such a system.  So perhaps something we can revisit down the road as we grow and start pulling more non ARPG members into the breed.  
Basically any adjustments should benefit the community, and at this time I feel like this would unfortunately do more harm than good.  

Some other thoughts I have:

Would a dew that let you swap magics (even region specific magics, to a different regions magic) perhaps work a bit better?  It would still give people the option to trade out magics they don't want?  
Perhaps we could even allow lesser magics to be swapped for greater magics with such a dew?  I think this would give the freedom you're looking for with magics without us having to create a new system and without putting too much extra burden on the admin team.  
We could maybe even do a dew for mastering a magic (I'd have to double check with our chime admins to make sure that wouldn't make things extra confusing though)

I definitely like the idea of having unique magics that can only be obtained through quests.  We have been adding some new magics from events etc and I wouldn't be opposed to expanding on this a bit.  Unique magics from Mythical Guardians would also be nice, I think.  

We're still a good ways away from releasing Land Battles, but when they do happen we have every intention of matching Quirlicorns evenly, so there wont be a need for those with less magics etc to worry about having a disadvantage.  We actually will want people to have more of an advantage by having Guardians and good Land values.  So Guardians and Land Value will play a much bigger role in land battles than will the magics of the Quirlicorns.  Stamina points may become a factor for Land Battles as well, but that might not work out so well if the jousters aren't entering land battles.  We'll need to see how things are looking as we get closer to being able to release them.  

All of that said, I'd still love to continue hearing more feedback from the community to help us get a better picture of what direction to go.  We will definitely be making some updates though.

I do see where you are coming from Omosky  Like Astral pointed out, it is a more traditional RPG way of doing things, and certainly something I was a lot more familiar with coming into the world of HARPG - I've had a strictly RPG background for *whew* 12 years or so? So coming in and learning just how a HARPG works was an adjustment for sure!

The biggest benefit we have to our community is the number of players who are willing to help. Like you said, the system can be confusing, but there are also many players who are willing to help our new players and help them navigate as they learn what HARPG is all about. I know my first couple months I spent most of my time asking a zillion questions about this or that! 


My Takeaway

- Reworking the Guardian's magic gifts to bring balance/Unique Magics 
- A Magic Weakness/Strength Balance Chart
- More Unique Quest Based Magics
- A dew that allows changing of magic (Phoenix Tear Dew? Play on the Phoenix Touch xD). And/or, adding in region specific Tokens that can be won via events (Desert Token, Icy Token, Etc) that can gift a Quirl a magic from that region? 
- Perhaps adding in a Nova or Spiral reward where you can pick an additional magic? 


Like Astral said, changing of the entire system would be a huge job that would require a lot of work. But perhaps by adding in some of the ideas it could create a more diverse system for magic and customizing your Quirlicorns magic in the long run.