Poll: changes to zephyr hounds

[ChodTheWacko]

But it seems to me that a few people want the game to be their way, and don't care what anybody thinks.

Well, that's the point of the poll, and here we are.
As of today, if takkaria wanted to follow mass opinion, he would do
something halfway between nothing and minor tweaking, which would
be okay for 84% of the people polled.

I also voted no change.

I was thinking today it would be interesting if, when dark hounds breathed on you, it extinguished your light source power by X turns. Just to stick it to you a bit more. (ha ha, not really)

- Frank

[Nick]

Yeah, get with the program Nick. I find your comments annoying! Who's with me?

And I find your face annoying

Back to the actual topic, I'll explain my comment a little. There are plenty of annoying things in the game. Breeders are annoying, summoners are annoying, life-drainers are annoying, Wormtongue is annoying, and so on. All of these, though (and hounds too), present genuine gameplay challenges - dealing with them is what the game is about. You certainly could remove any one of them, but then you have started down the road to blandness. There will always be questions of balance, and of personal preference - on the latter of these, and probably the former, I am happy with the current State of the Hound.

Civil discussion (which this mostly has been ) is never a bad thing. Most of the changes takkaria were being discussed well before he made them. My opinion certainly isn't the last word on this.

[CunningGabe]

I voted to keep them the same. There are many different monster niches, and recognizing these helps lead to good play. Hounds teach you not to just go into a room swinging, and if you lure them effectively, they provide a decent xp gain at their level. Jellies and molds are low-reward, and help teach you that it's not worth killing everything, and to stay out of melee range of things with status attacks. Undead beholders are hard to kill and have a lot of nasty spells, and they teach you that sometimes it's better just to teleport the monster away. And so on.

Now I'll grant you, there are a lot of hounds in DL20-30. And I wouldn't cry if they became a little rarer, or the packs a little smaller. I just don't see a need. Ever since I figured out how to deal with them, I've come to appreciate them for the easy XP, and I don't get my armor melted off of me or my scrolls used as kindling.

[Malak Darkhunter]

You know some people are a little stiff with their comments on certain things, I've never tried to be insulting to anybody. But it seems to me that a few people want the game to be their way, and don't care what anybody thinks. If the angband maintainer dosen't care what everybody thinks then what's the point of developing the game? We want more players right? Then why be so difficult about a poll? I express my opinion on what I think about the subject, find someone else to attack. And FYI I haven't seen where pav sounded irritated. Up to where you guys decided to flame me for what I believe in, there hasn't been any insulting going on.

[Daniel Fishman]

And, unless Donald has found some way to change his vote on the forum, "no changes" is now the leading option when you take his vote into account.

[buzzkill]

Hounds aren't the only annoying things around here. I suppose I could just stop reading this thread but, all evil need to prospher...

Hounds are ultra-annoying - and therefore should stay as they are.

Yeah, get with the program Nick. I find your comments annoying! Who's with me?

For the people saying to just "Edit your own version" What's the point of development if a few people want you to change your own copy and can't recognize when changes need to be made to the game itself? There's enough people voted so far to realize that a lot of people don't like the current hound behavior.

Angband isn't a democracy, and voting doesn't really matter all that much, even if the results were conclusive which they are NOT. The decision is up the maintainer, and the maintainer alone. The forum is a great place to express your opinion and suggest changes that you would like to see, so feel free to continue down this well beaten, and futile, path.

FYI, when Pav starts sounding annoyed, it's probably a good time to drop it, even if you are sure that you are absolutely right.

Buzzkill has spoken.

[Malak Darkhunter]

I said, "little or no change," meaning minor change or no change. One of the major change folks was myself, misunderstanding the object of the poll. I guess I'll cease and desist now, to avoid a flame war...

Well you point out that I am going against the tide, but there are many other people with opinions on the matter themselves other than me. I am merely stating facts, no harm done. And it's most people want a minor or Major change, not minor or no change. No change has it's own seperate bracket. For Myself I am merely supporting those who want a change.

[Donald Jonker]

So excuse me but where do get 80% want no change at all?

I said, "little or no change," meaning minor change or no change. One of the major change folks was myself, misunderstanding the object of the poll. I guess I'll cease and desist now, to avoid a flame war...

[Malak Darkhunter]

But most people who want a change just want the rarity increased by 1.. which isn't that big of a difference, and is something that can be accomplished in an edit file while you wait for development to catch up. Around 40% of people don't even want a change. 80% of people want little or no change... I think you're fighting a losing battle against the tide on this one.

No I think you have your numbers wrong, the poll shows a 59% to 38% lead over people who don't want any changes made. Most want minor change but a few want a major change. So excuse me but where do get 80% want no change at all?

[Donald Jonker]

For the people saying to just "Edit your own version" What's the point of development if a few people want you to change your own copy and can't recognize when changes need to be made to the game itself? There's enough people voted so far to realize that a lot of people don't like the current hound behavior.

But most people who want a change just want the rarity increased by 1.. which isn't that big of a difference, and is something that can be accomplished in an edit file while you wait for development to catch up. Around 40% of people don't even want a change. 80% of people want little or no change... I think you're fighting a losing battle against the tide on this one.

[Malak Darkhunter]

[QUOTE=Nick;15526]Hounds are ultra-annoying - and therefore should stay as they are.


That makes no sense at all....

If you think about it a player has enough to contend with, with the orc strongholds, uniques running around... you try to concentrate on wyping out a unique monster then, *Crash* 2 dozen annoying hounds pop up to aggravate the you know what out of you!

For the people saying to just "Edit your own version" What's the point of development if a few people want you to change your own copy and can't recognize when changes need to be made to the game itself? There's enough people voted so far to realize that a lot of people don't like the current hound behavior.

[Fenrir]

The hounds should be left as they are.

Angband just wouldn't be Angband without the "You hear a door crash open. It breathes gravity. You die."

[pav]

Top three annoyances about *band:
Hunger
Having to identify
Zephyr Hounds

And why not just jump to Morgoth from the staircase in the town? Sounds you want to make the game suuuper easy...

[HallucinationMushroom]

Top three annoyances about *band:
Hunger
Having to identify
Zephyr Hounds

Toss all

[buzzkill]

I'm going to say axe them completely just for thematic reasons. They don't belong in Angband any more than Tiamat did.

Quite the opposite. Leave the hounds alone and bring on Tiamat and even more high demon uniques.