Hello, guys, This is Michael. I just learned that you all posted my letter and I'm happy you all like the idea. I 've since then been playing threshold and everquest. I'm flattered that you think the idea would fit in so well with sorren and santharian dream. And this is where ill prolly post for ever since I have a ton of ideas. so hear is another one.
     PROBLEM-rpg's that I have played have been limited by there environment, meaning- if a group or player made guild wanted to set up a building or a home or any thing else that would required another 3d object, since there are thousands of players to programmers and testers, it is unreasonable to process all the requests.
    Soulution- Make a 3d in game, builder program. that would store the building or lands, on the players hard drive. So they would be semi-servering in game when they had visitors.(seen as a nother zone by the server)
    In order ot build on land the earned they would have to meet in game requirements of getting all the reasorces and people to build etc, not to mention the land
   also they would have to meet hardware requirements of (I'm assumeing); at least a high speed connection, 500mb ram, and ample hard drive space. guild hall requirements may need more ram dew to how many player chariters will be in the hall.
    I think putting the system data infomation in a folder and creating a seceruty code for it, would curb cheating the program.
   I got this idea off of useing netmeeting 3.01 by Microsoft. there is a function that allows you to view some ones desk top and move stuff if you let them.

It seems im repeating in diffent words what you and others have already said( I'm sorry. Kinda tired and i just went back to review the board and saw my mistake. I'll think about it for a while I really think if we could come up with a skill unique to sorren/santharain RPG project then we would find what we are really looking for, instead of 35 skills that a single chariter could not excell in a reasonable manner. If we come up with something unique and make it a fun skill, then other people will add our ideas to their game. and that is a real pat on the back when some one dose that=) so thats what ill be thinking about. fun unique skills everyone likes.

one of my personal favorates as being a shaman on everquest is Alchemy.
Smithing should have two specializations 1 being sharpening (lowering delay of a wep) and the other tempering ( increasing hardness= incressed attack)

As im totaly for a more player chariter money market and made items rather than drops, skills would become trades. so something like alchemy could be very closely related to farming.

also I have a paticular liking for psion. all there abilitys are trained arts of the mind and body. Which is diffrent than other classes that rely on magic or weps compleatly. Their abilitys i think would most likely be related to this section on skills.

IE perception of envoirment, it gose along with sence traps but it gose farther by detecting stelth pc, and so on.

Mind conrol of others. abilty to project your will by force on someone or thing else like this could lead to a pet class or specialzation at higher lvs'

as far as non class specific skills i dont remember hearing swimming mentioned, or fetching (bows/arrows), and how bout adding slings- the better you get the better the projectile you can use.
and communacation skills in other languages. along with my active player chariter enconamy there should be a apprasle skill/ identifi artafact skill- to determan the value of something.
how bout map making, the better a player is at that, then he could go in to dongons that change everytime they enter and find there way around.
The more advanced races could have small machinery abilitys to make things like under water breathing stuff and movement enchance ment stuff.and so on.
Since it is my impression that acuall player are going to be able to construt buildings and stuff, then archatecture is going to have to be a skill. and a advanced one.
Bard class or other preforming classes would have additional skills of singing, instument playing and writing to entertain others.

If I understand correctly, an attribute is something/ability you are born with and, a skill is something/ability you learn and/or pratice.

So I think anything other than things  race abilitys would be skills. ie infrared vision, sharper hearing, dubble jointedness (natural fexability/dextarity) would be race abilites.

I think everything else would be a learned skill. Through the creation of a chariter, i think it is assumed that they have grown enough to know how to walk/run/jump etc.

If we plan to have new chariters as infants, then role play will be harder, because infants who need to learn there motor skill are totaly depended on others around them.

If I have something mixed up please post so i understand better.

skills i think should be are.
trade skills...smithing, tailoring etc
self improve skills.....sprinting farther, body building str etc
barter skills... business skills(math&reading) to create econ.

Michael.

Hello all, um i was just concerned about the selection of server app- windows 2000. was there not a reasent virus attack called nimida on it? will the game be safe from that kinda thing?
   also, c#- is that the name of the language? cause im thinking of going to the public lybiray and looking it up. i think in collage its going ot be c++ and so on up and down the line in 2 years or so.