All classes should get strong, fast pseudo

[Donald Jonker]

My belief is that all classes should get strong, fast pseudo. Pseudo is a convenience: as it is, it constitutes the main reason I don't play classes other than warriors or rogues. I think most will agree that having to ID every single {good} item is plainly less fun. Considerations of pseudo-ID should not factor into what class you decide to play. It is a matter of convenience/annoyance, not a matter of gameplay.

The main argument against it, as far as I can tell, is game balance. Mage-types get spell-ID, warrior-types get pseudo-ID/scrolls, priest-types get screwed. But until clvl30 or so, everyone still has to carry scrolls anyway, on account of SP limits and failure rates. How much of a convenience is spell-id? I'd trade it in for strong pseudo every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Not to mention that for mages, carrying capacity is a balancing factor in itself.

Would any class become hyper-powerful if all were granted strong, fast pseudo? I think not. Each would still have their distinguishing characteristics, and we'd still play warriors for their unsurpassed combat.

[takkaria]

My belief is that all classes should get strong, fast pseudo. Pseudo is a convenience: as it is, it constitutes the main reason I don't play classes other than warriors or rogues. I think most will agree that having to ID every single {good} item is plainly less fun. Considerations of pseudo-ID should not factor into what class you decide to play. It is a matter of convenience/annoyance, not a matter of gameplay.

The main argument against it, as far as I can tell, is game balance. Mage-types get spell-ID, warrior-types get pseudo-ID/scrolls, priest-types get screwed. But until clvl30 or so, everyone still has to carry scrolls anyway, on account of SP limits and failure rates. How much of a convenience is spell-id? I'd trade it in for strong pseudo every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Not to mention that for mages, carrying capacity is a balancing factor in itself.

Would any class become hyper-powerful if all were granted strong, fast pseudo? I think not. Each would still have their distinguishing characteristics, and we'd still play warriors for their unsurpassed combat.

I did this a few days ago. [Also, in V 3.1, weak pseudo meant you pseudo'd ego-items as {excellent} anyway.]

[Donald Jonker]

I did this a few days ago. [Also, in V 3.1, weak pseudo meant you pseudo'd ego-items as {excellent} anyway.]

All hail the maintainer! Again, I say hail! I can barely contain myself... all the other classes suddenly unlocked...

[Djabanete]

I did this a few days ago. [Also, in V 3.1, weak pseudo meant you pseudo'd ego-items as {excellent} anyway.]

I'm pretty sure the two of you are actually the same person

[Atriel]

I'm pretty sure the two of you are actually the same person

LOL

but i think he has a very good point about all classes having strong id...
Changing speed too though might be too much in one change.

[andrewdoull]

I did this a few days ago. [Also, in V 3.1, weak pseudo meant you pseudo'd ego-items as {excellent} anyway.]

I'd prefer an instant pseudo id which is randomly either strong or weak, with a low level scroll that converts weak --> strong.

That allows for the possibility of using items which have negative abilities without being cursed, if the item is weakly id'ed, while allowing a strong id to notice the difference. Using the item would quickly note the difference, as per Eddieband.

Andrew

[Taqq]

I am in full agreement with the OP. I have never played a class without stong Pseudo-ID, and usually look for a class with both. Maybe an option in the "=" options, a birth option perhaps.

[Zikke]

I tried a couple characters in V with slow pseudo-ID and it was horrible and slow and weak is unbearable.

[buzzkill]

I haven't chimed in on this in a while so...
Make it a skill, like stealth or disarming. Change the name from pseudo-ID to item/object knowledge/lore or similar.
Why not, start out weak, and increase pseudo-id strength with CL (like everything else), and/or through magical items/effects.
And again, stronger pseudo-id or even full ID on items native to their chosen class and/or wielded.
Certainly, by the time you reach CL20-CL30, pseudo on most items should be coming strong and fast.

A little off topic, but I'm not in love with {magical} (V3.1), but wouldn't mind it so much if it eventually progressed into {cursed} or {good}, then further to {excellent} or {terrible} and so on.

[takkaria]

I haven't chimed in on this in a while so...
Make it a skill, like stealth or disarming. Change the name from pseudo-ID to item/object knowledge/lore or similar.
Why not, start out weak, and increase pseudo-id strength with CL (like everything else), and/or through magical items/effects.
And again, stronger pseudo-id or even full ID on items native to their chosen class and/or wielded.
Certainly, by the time you reach CL20-CL30, pseudo on most items should be coming strong and fast.

The problem with this is that early characters need pseudo the most and late characters need it the least, so making it that early characters don't get it strong isn't very helpful. A lot of this is down to the selling-game.

[buzzkill]

The problem with this is that early characters need pseudo the most and late characters need it the least, so making it that early characters don't get it strong isn't very helpful. A lot of this is down to the selling-game.

I guess it based on your point of view. I'm just going to respectfully disagree.

1. Realism. Not "real" important to most, but low CL's having weak ID seems natural.
2. Stronger ID on items native to their class, help players ID items they might actually use (less lugging around of useless items just to sell).
2 1/2. Stronger ID when wielded (forces players to take a chance), and it would make remove curse a useful scroll once again.
3. Scrolls of Identify, still an valid option.
4. Low DL's are not very deadly. One could survive without knowing the nature of everything they pick up.
5. You're not likely to find any items of significant help/harm in the early game, unless they come from a unique, maybe even vault, which should give you a clue.
6. By CL10 or so, when the game becomes a little more interesting, that pseudo should start picking up the pace so that you can at least have a somewhat useful pseudo, at about the time {excellent} items start becoming more frequent.

[zaimoni]

The problem with this is that early characters need pseudo the most and late characters need it the least, so making it that early characters don't get it strong isn't very helpful. A lot of this is down to the selling-game.

Hmm...weak pseudo hurts worst in the late pre-stat gain game, actually. Early game, it's just a matter of being careful when to toss things. It would be a lot less painful if there was automatic recording of how many times an inventory item was not flagged by weak pseudo-id. [Ideally, this is in conjunction with strong pseudo-id not bothering with "average" and instead just ID'ing automatically. Likewise, weak psuedo-id should ID anything being wielded when something is flagged by pseudo-id.]