User:Matt Scott

Group Affiliation

Member of the group: The Power Nine

My Suggestions

Class-only Skills (Discussion I)

Timestamp:	Matt Scott 9 16:05, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
Type:	New skills
Scope:	Each character class
Description:	Each character class receives a new skill in the skill tree, only available to that characer class. The skills would also require level 10+ (like zombie hunter). UPDATE: Instead, ANY player may select ONE of the following skills upon reaching level 10+. This effectively "changes" their character class. Here are my ideas for the skills, but they may need tweaking, which is why I am posting them here: Military Private - Superior Shotgun Training (An extra +5% to hit with a shotgun. Requires Advanced Shotgun Training skill) Medic - Combat Medicine (Player can heal a further +5 HP with a FAK in a hospital or infirmary without power. Requires Surgery skill.) Scout - Advanced Free Running (Player has a 5% chance of entering Heavily barricaded buildings from the street.) Science NT Lab Assistant - Autopsy UPDATE: Postmortem (Player can recognize a zombie's hitpoints with a successful DNA extraction attempt. This requires the Surgery skill.) Alternate suggestion - Expert NecroNet Access (Player can manufacture a revivification syringe in 10AP rather than 20). Doctor - Advanced Diagnosis (Nearby survivors suffering from Infectious Bite have a * displayed next to their name. Requires Diagnosis skill. Zombies can use this skill.) UPDATE: This is a near-dupe of Prognosis, except that Prognosis uses red text versus a * to indicate infection. I will have to come up with a replacement for this in my official submission. No this IS a dupe. The fact that one one uses an * while the other uses color is irrelevant to the fact they both do the same job.--Pesatyel 06:27, 17 December 2006 (UTC) RE: Thank you, semantics-boy. ;) That's why I outright said it was a dupe in the discussion below, and that's also why I said I'd be replacing it. --Matt Scott 9 14:56, 18 December 2006 (UTC) Civilian Cop - Superior Pistol Training (An extra +5% to hit with a pistol. Requires Advanced Pistol Training skill.) Firefighter - Advanced Axe Proficiency (An extra +5% to hit with an axe. Requires Axe Proficiency skill.) Consumer - Advanced Bargain Hunting (Player has +5% chance to find something when searching a mall. Requires Bargain Hunting skill.) Zombie Corpse - Serrated Teeth (Bite attacks deal an extra 1 damage. Requires Neck Lurch skill.) Alternate suggestion - Disfigurement (Zombie has been horribly disfigured. Attacking players cannot discern it's HP value.) Well, that's a start... I'm not sure how these will go over, since some may be more overpowered than others. I'm not sure about all those +5's. Those may need to be reduced for the sake of balance, or at least some of them may be. Why class-only skills? Because once you advance a few levels, the classes are completely indistinguishable from one another. There ought to be an advantage to advancing as each particular class. Maybe a better idea would be only 4 skills: Military, Science, Civilian, and Corpse. If class-specific skills don't go over well, what about class specific items or class advantages for being at a specific building type? All your comments are welcome, thanks!

Discussion

Some additional notes from the author: An extra 5% means the odds of success improve by 1 in 20 AP. Advanced Free Running may have the hugest target on it at the moment, but remember this would be limited only to players who began as a Scout -- I don't think this would break the game because only a small percentage of people could receive this skill anyway. Also, it would take 20 attempts to enter the building on average, so in most cases it would be better to find a gateway. It would not be a sure thing, and would only be reserved for emergencies. If more balance is necessary, maybe a failure results in a fall causing 1 damage. The other skill with a big bullseye might be Advanced Bargain Hunting, but think of what Consumers have to go through to level up in the first place. (This same argument works for Scouts.) Consumers and Scouts should be rewarded for leveling up, and by their nature they are non-violent, so their special skills should be non-violent also. Also, on second glance, I think Advanced Axe Proficiency should require Hand-to-hand Combat as well as Axe Proficiency. --Matt Scott ⁹ 17:21, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunatly Matt, although I agree with your sentiment the overwhelming sentement has been to leave all skills available to all players. There have been numerous suggestions for "specialization" and they are either killed or spammed out of existance. Conndraka^{mod TDHPD CFT} 17:26, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Ah, I did not search on the term, "Specialization," which is probably why I didn't come up with any dupes on this. I will explore some more to see what I find. Like they say, there is nothing new under the sun I guess. I still would like to hear everyone's feedback. Thanks. --Matt Scott ⁹ 17:30, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I looked at those other Specialization suggestions you mentioned, and most of them needed to be spammed -- because they were either overpowered or overly complex or they nerfed other players. I don't think that is the case with these suggestions. And I don't think that just because we've never had specialized skills before is a good enough reason to overlook them for the future. --Matt Scott ⁹ 17:47, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

I was just going to say something similar! some of these are not bad but i do not like the combat medic being better than doctors bit... the rest MIGHT work though, will have to think about it.--Honestmistake 17:52, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Keep in mind that the Combat Medicine skill I suggested only works in unpowered hospitals and infirmaries. Surgery works only in powered hospitals and infirmaries. I see what you are saying about the combat medic being "better" than a doctor, but they can still both only heal a maximum of 15 HP -- It's just that the Combat Medic can do this with or without power as long as they are in a hospital or infirmary. The thinking behind this is that a Combat Medic has experience working in the field where they may not have access to the luxury of electricity. And the medic wouldn't get the advantage of being able to recognize Infectious Bite, so I think they balance out, especially since they still have the same maximum heal amount. --Matt Scott ⁹ 18:03, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

'GOOD POINTS'--Honestmistake 18:05, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Good stuff - I don't care what anyone else says, I would 'really' like to see some form of specialization among the character classes. Some of your ideas were better than others, but I really like advanced diagnosis and autopsy. Whatever you do, keep those! --Uncle Bill 01:36, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I like - I don't understand why specialization in and of itself is bad. I am curious what the thinking is against class specialization. I am not looking for "we talked about this six months ago and decided then". I am really curious about the downsides and objections.--Nosimplehiway 04:26, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Don't have much time to comment, but I'll say one thing. The zombie skill is overpowered. What might be better is a better use for blunt weapons by zombies (maybe a higher damage and/or hit% or some other effect). Personally speaking, I like the idea of "class" specific skills. As far as established characters are concerned, if a player started as a "Cop" but, should these idea be introduced, liked the "Private" skill better, he could take that skill as his choice and would permanently BECOME a "Private" rather than a "Cop". Okay, that was TWO things....--Pesatyel 04:58, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I think you're right about the zombie skill. Now that I think about it, the other attack-centered boosts I recommended give a 5% boost, which is 1 additional hit per 20 AP. The maxed out bite attack for a zombie has a 30% chance to hit (or 40% with tangling grasp). That's 6-8 hits for 20 AP, so my "Serrated Teeth" attack would be an additional 6-8 damage. That's about 2 additional hits per 20 AP. Honestly, I just really like the name for the skill and the idea of a zombie with razor sharp teeth. Clearly, I will have to rework the zombie skill if I submit this. --Matt Scott ⁹ 13:32, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if the zombie bonus is overpowered. A target wearing a flack jacket instantly removes all benefit from the skill because it takes the damage straight back to 4 again. It might be better to give them something of use against any targets, like a Gorging skill that requires digestion and gives them back 6 Hp per bite instead of 4. In anyevent, I do agree that it needs reworking!

I don't much like the scout skill either, but I'm struggling to come up with something thats appropriate. I thought perhaps some sort of Outdoorsman skill that gives them a +5% chance to hit with both knives and flare guns. The Mad Axeman 16:14, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

This may have already been pointed out, but many of these ideas are already Peer Reviewed suggestions. Good ideas - but someone already had them. --Funt Solo 16:04, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

• Thanks, Funt, but I just looked again and could only find one of the ideas I listed in Peer Reviewed - Advanced Diagnosis is apparently a dupe of Prognosis, except that Prognosis uses red text versus a * to indicate infection. Otherwise, Autopsy shares a name with my suggestion above but it's an altogether different skill. I will have to rename that. The rest of these are not Peer Reviewed, nor is the idea of Specialization. That is not to say that similar ideas haven't been proposed, but just that they were spammed or killed for one reason or another -- which I have tried to correct in my versions. --Matt Scott ⁹ 17:57, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I really, really like this- Gives people an incentive to play different classes, and gives them more of a purpose. There might be some problems with the zombie skill, though.--Grigori 21:17, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I'm hearing alot of people say that they want to specialize, but they don't want to be locked in to a skillset that they chose before they knew any better. So what if everybody could buy these "Expert" skills, but you could only own 1 at a time? If you buy one, it replaces any other Expert skills on the list, which you could then buyback later. This allows you to change your mind later, and also gives higher level players an XP sink for all those extra points they have lying around. As an additional solution for an altogether different problem, the current zombie hunter skill could be incorporated into this list, effectively allowing someone who wants to drop the Headshot skill for something else an opportunity to do so. Just an idea. --Matt Scott ⁹ 21:50, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, Matt, I think it would be better if we accept Pestayel's idea. I like the idea that you buy a Skill, and its permeant. Selling back a skill seem too unrealistic. Here is Pesatyel's idea. You get a list of Expert Skills. If you buy a skill that is outside your class, you not only get that skill, but you CHANGE your class. So, say, a pro-zombie player started off as a Firefighter to easily level up. When the new Expert skills come up, the pro-zombie player can buy the Zombie Expert Skill, and turn his class from Firefighter to Corpse. I see that is the best way.--ShadowScope 00:49, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Since my "Advanced Diagnosis" skill is apparently a dupe, try this one on for size:

• Doctor - Physical Therapy: Healed survivors gain 1HP per action until fully restored or until injured again. Speaking does not cause survivors to gain health. (Experience points are not granted when survivors gain HP this way.)

This would basically be the opposite of Infectious Bite, allowing survivors to earn health by performing actions. Doesn't nerf Infectious Bite, since the effect ends upon sustaining any further injuries. I'm still working on some of the others. Let me know. --Matt Scott ⁹ 15:35, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

How about this as a replacement for "Serrated Teeth":

• Corpse - Disfigurement: Zombie has been horribly disfigured. Attacking players cannot discern it's HP value.

Upon attacking a zombie, usually it's total hitpoints are displayed. With this expert skill, players who attack a zombie receive this message: "You attack a zombie for 5 damage. This zombie has been so horribly disfigured that you are unable to discern it's HP value." --Matt Scott ⁹ 15:59, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmm...At first I disliked the "serrated teeth" because I thought that it would be too powerful, but now I'm not so sure, because it wouldn't have any additional effect on survivors with flak jackets, and would finally give survivors a reason to carry flak jackets besides PKer protection. However, giving them the ability to conceal their HP would nerf the Autopsy skill (unless that overcomes this, which you have not specified). Also, the advanced free running is a bad idea. 5%? They'd be better off finding an entry point. No one would take advantage of this. Bump it up to 20% or so and people might use it (or make it so they can enter Heavily barricaded buildings all the time but for an increased AP cost). The only other problem with this I can see is that people probably won't like being limited to one skill because they didn't know about this stuff when they made the character. --Reaper with no name ^TJ! 21:15, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

That's an excellent point you make about Serrated Teeth versus a flak jacket, so that may be more balanced than I thought. My thinking with replacing it with Disfigurement was that the hidden HP value would only apply to combat (which is why the description says "Attacking players cannot discern it's HP value." I did not think it would nerf the NT skill, which I have renamed to "Postmortem", because DNA extraction would not be considered attacking. They would balance one another rather than nerf one or the other.

By the way, I am thinking of replacing "Autopsy/Postmortem" altogether with "Expert NecroNet Access". This would decrease the syringe manufacture cost from 20AP to 10AP. This sounds like alot, but when you do the math, it's still only an increase of 5% versus the search odds. The current 1/20 syringe manufacture is effectively a 5% search (versus the actual 12.4% search ratio). The expert skill would reduce this to 1/10, or the equivalent of a 10% search, which is still less than actually searching. If this seems too powerful, perhaps 15AP instead? --Matt Scott ⁹ 14:56, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't believe no one has commented on the physiotherapy bit! You do realize that if a doctor phsio'd you during a live battle then everytime you fight back against the zeds you would regenerate? this could make you pretty much immortal! I know it says it stops if you are injured again butimagine logging on into a mall seige with 7HP and an infection, you pysio yourself to cure the infection and regain 10HPs and then start blasting away at the zeds. If u get lucky then 43AP later you are on a full 60HP and still have 6AP left to run away... Sorry but i think not!--Honestmistake 13:50, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually you'd have to have a FAK to do this, so it's not like you could just activate it anytime. (and since you'd already have the First Aid skill, you'd be healing for 10HP anyway). I'd probably have to make a stipulation that attacking would also stop the affects of this, or that you couldn't use it on yourself. Anyway, I didn't really like the flavor of the idea of physical therapy in a zombie game to begin with. So... I still need to find a replacement for my Advanced Diagnosis idea. --Matt Scott ⁹ 16:51, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

How about this for the scout's skill?

• Scout- Flare training: adds 5-10% to the hit rate for flares.

Not sure what prerequisite would be but I know the scout does start with a flare so...--IsaacT15:39, 19 December 2006 (PST)

Well, it looks to me like most are pretty straight forward. The problem ones being the Medic (kinda), Scout, Lab Assistant, Doctor and Corpse.

• Medic: Simple (to fit with the others) Knife Combat +5%. I was also thinking about the suggested Medic's skill above, but instead allowing them to heal +5 HP OUTSIDE only (Field Surgery?).
• Scout: How about allowing them to use binoculars anywhere (or at least in non-"tall" buildings)?
• Lab Assistant: The decreased manufacturing cost is good. Manfucaturing is a non-skill since searching is so easily. Or, what about allowing them to manufacture in a ransacked building?
• Doctor: +5% to searches (for FAK) in Hospitals?
• Corpse: +4 to damage with blunt weapons (6 damage) AND Zombies can use Hand to Hand Combat (+15%, 25% to hit with bat/pipe). Still greatly inferior to claws/bites (we ARE talking "maxed out" zombies here) and the damage would be reduced by flak jackets (to 5 damage). The idea being to make use of an abilities already have but never use and give them a limited, more powerful attack. the +4 might be a bit much (I was originally thinking +3).--Pesatyel 02:41, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Great ideas, Pesatyel. I like your idea about the Medic being able to heal extra HP outside, but I also like your knife combat idea too. I too was trying to think about something involving binoculars for the Scout... It does seem very fitting, and it certainly encourages "specialization" (which is the whole point of this submission). The Doctor skill is interesting -- Kind of like bargain hunting for hospitals, but I wonder if it needs to be more than +5% though? As for zombies, from a flavor perspective, my thinking (with Disfigurement and Serrated Teeth) was that they are so dedicated to being zombies that they have been affected in their physical appearance beyond the typical zombie. They are "career" zombies, so maybe an "expert" brain rot skill? Thanks for being so constructive everyone. --Matt Scott ⁹ 14:20, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Another zombie idea:

• Corrosive DNA: Zombie has ???% to destroy an attacking player's melee weapon or DNA extractor.

I got this idea while reading this: Cellular Necrosis. The idea is that it's blood has a slightly corrosive nature to it, eventually eating through an attacking player's melee weapon or DNA extractor. This assumes that a punch won't draw as much blood, which is why the corrosion doesn't affect hand attacks. I was originally thinking it would only affect DNA extractors, but that would nerf only one class, which would be kind of counter-productive for a suggestion based on specialization. --Matt Scott ⁹ 14:56, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Not to bad an idea, IMO. But I guarantee it won't pass. People don't want to lose "permanent" items (unless they chose to by dropping them). Granted, REPLACING those items is easily done but that doesn't matter. Also, it would only really "nerf" people using extractors and axes (and what about PUNCH?). And if you don't want to use my zombie suggestion, I might just submit it myself.--Pesatyel 21:45, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and about the Doctor suggestion, what about more like a "shopping" skill for hospitals. In this case, it would allow the Doctor to find ONLY FAK on a search (no newspapers).

And another Scout idea: Back Entrance. Because of the Scout's training, they are able to enter buildings up to Heavily (rather than just Very Strong). Problem is, this would make this a "PKer class" so it might not be a good idea.--Pesatyel 21:53, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

RE: Yeah, go ahead and submit your zombie idea if you like... I think I'm going to keep tinkering. And you're probably right about the Corrosive DNA one -- Liable to get lots of "WTF DON'T TOUCH MY STUFF" replies. I also like your Scout idea, much more useful than my original "5% to enter" one, but yeah it could be the generic PK-er choice. --Matt Scott ⁹ 22:31, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

This post is getting long -- Should I repost it with all the changes and allow this one to be archived? --Matt Scott ⁹ 22:31, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

where has this discussion been continued? I'd like to suggest class-only items instead of class skills, and being able to change your class with XP when you want. Ex: an EMT bag will give you that +5 hp for use outside the hospitals, but only medics and firemen can use it. police and privates can use a riot shield, which works similarly to a flak jacket, but covers melee attacks. NT employees can use a syringe manual to create syringes faster. that sort of thing.--razi

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Class-Only Skills (Discussion II)

Timestamp:	Matt Scott 9 16:01, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
Type:	New skills
Scope:	Each character class
Description:	A player may, upon reaching level 10, choose ONE of the skills listed below, regardless of their starting class. This effectively changes their starting class to the skill's class. Military Private - Expert Shotgun Training. +5% to hit with shotgun. Prerequisite: Advanced Shotgun Training Medic - Field Surgery. Heal +5 HP (with a FAK) when outside a building. Scout - Several Ideas: Expert Free Running. Can enter buildings up to Heavily Barricaded from the street. Maybe too PK-er friendly? Binocular Proficiency. Can use binoculars outside and/or inside non-tall buildings. Expert Knife Combat: +5% to hit with knife. Requires Knife Combat. Although I'd rather keep the Scout skill "non-violent". Science NT Lab Assistant - Several Ideas: Postmortem. Can recognize a zombie's HP with a successful DNA extraction. Expert NecroTech Access. Can manufacture a syringe for 10 AP. Doctor - Hospital Residency. +5% to searches in Hospitals and/or can search Hospitals and not find Newspapers. Civilian Cop - Expert Pistol Training. +5% to hit with pistol. Prerequisite: Advanced Pistol Training Firefighter - Expert Axe Proficiency. +5% to hit with an axe. Prerequisite: Axe Proficiency Consumer - Expert Bargain Hunting. +5% to searches in Malls. Prerequisite: Bargain Hunting Zombie Corpse - Several Ideas: Serrated Teeth. Bite does +1 damage. Prerequisite: Neck Lurch Disfigured. Attacking players cannot determine HP value. Why class-only skills? Because once you advance a few levels, the classes are completely indistinguishable from one another. There ought to be an advantage to advancing as each particular class. Maybe a better idea would be only 4 skills: Military, Science, Civilian, and Corpse. If class-specific skills don't go over well, what about class specific items or class advantages for being at a specific building type? All your comments are welcome, thanks!

Discussion

I edited this down. If you want to read the original discussion, I put it on [my talk page].--Pesatyel 05:51, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and something else to consider: We don't necessarily have to limit each class to ONE skill. On the list above, the Medic, Scout, Lab Assistant, Doctor and Corpse each has 2 or 3 skills. We can come up with 1 or 2 more for the Private, Cop, Firefighter and Consumer.--Pesatyel 06:02, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

In that case... Private: Tactical Knowledge (for lack of a better name): Able to see if a target has a Flak Jacket. May be slightly overpowered, but only slightly. It doesn't show health, just flak jacket. And, of course, only for the top of a zombie stack. -Mark 17:02, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm...might not make it through "zombie anonymity." I mean if we have 5 zombies in a square, would we see "there are 5 zombies here, one is wearing a flak jacket."?--Pesatyel 05:50, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for cleaning this up and archiving the original, Pesatyel. I wasn't sure if I could just arbitrarily move an active discussion, so I guess that answers my question. For clarity sake, I moved the archived version from your talk page to mine: [my talk page]. I also narrowed down some of the ideas with several choices to my personal favorites. I removed the following suggestions: Combat Medicine (Field Surgery is better), Knife Combat (Not in character for a medic), Flare Combat (Not really in character, and frankly a little weird), & Zombie Weapons Combat (too complicated). If I removed one of your suggestions anyone, then feel free to submit it as your own suggestion. Please keep the ideas coming -- you are all helping me to refine this alot!

I still feel a little unhappy with the Scout, Doctor, & Zombie suggestions. Oh, and Pesatyel, I removed your note about new players only being limited to the choice for their class if this is implemented. I think the complaint would still be that newbs wouldn't understand the implications of their class selection in late-game play. --Matt Scott ⁹ 16:01, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

That's fine, about the note. Just something I thought should be discussed. Your right that a newbie probably wouldn't understand the implications, even IF the available skills were looked at during the character creation process. I think the Expert Knife Combat skill would work SOMEWHERE, so I included it with the Scout instead (the "logic" behind the medic was the idea of having to use what was on hand for surgery, or something like that). As for the Doctor, I was kinda thinking that SURGERY could be a Doctor-only skill, but that might be too radical a change (being different from adding NEW skills).--Pesatyel 05:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Oh, and what did you think of the idea of having more than one class skill for each class? Kinda like the way Headshot is the only Zombie Hunter skill (which brings up a related topic, is Zombie Hunter a "seperate" class?), it might be a good idea for more than one. Of course, we don't HAVE to think of them all right now...--Pesatyel 05:45, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Expert Free Running - I wonder if anyone else thinks this is too PK-er friendly? Honestly, I don't see buildings only barricaded at "Heavily" too often. It seems in-character for a Scout without being too overpowered (it only grants access to 1 level higher barricade). And if that means that all PK-ers would flock to the Scout option, then they miss out on other skills and it encourages better upkeep of barricades. Personally, I think Scout option should be "non-violent" and should encourage playing in-character, i.e., "scouting". What about this for the Scout: Forced Entry. +5% to hit barricades. This might be considered griefing or too PK-er friendly also, but remember 5% is only 1 additional hit out of 20AP. --Matt Scott ⁹ 13:47, 26 December 2006 (UTC)

NOW UP FOR VOTING. Thanks for your input everyone!

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Specialization Skills (Final Vote)

Timestamp:	Matt Scott 9 14:38, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
Type:	New skills
Scope:	All character classes
Description:	Right now, a player's starting class affects his or her gameplay and abilities, but once players have attained a few more levels and skills, they are only "Survivors" and "Zombies". I suggest we add 9 "Expert" skills, one for each class, that would encourage players to play "in character" even at level 10+. A player may, upon reaching level 10, choose ONE of the skills listed below, regardless of their starting class. This effectively changes their starting class to the skill's class. Military Private - Expert Shotgun Training. +5% to hit with a shotgun. Prerequisite: Advanced Shotgun Training. Medic - Field Surgery. Heal +5 HP (with a FAK) when outside a building. Prerequisite: Surgery. Scout - Expert Free Running. Can enter buildings up to Heavily barricaded from the street. Prerequisite: Free Running. (Before you think this is overpowered, take a quick walk around your suburb and COUNT the number of buildings that are only HEAVILY barricaded. Not VERY or EXTREMELY Heavily, but only HEAVILY barricaded. This only provides the Scout with access to 3 more levels of barricades. I admit this could likely become the PK-er skill of choice, but it would not give them any greater advantage than any of the other skills here.) Science NT Lab Assistant - Expert NecroNet Access. Can manufacture a syringe for 10AP. Prerequisite: NecroNet Access. (Searching for a syringe would still be more efficient most of the time. 1 Syringe for 10AP is effectively a 10% search, versus the currently 12% find rate for syringes in powered NecroTech buildings.) Doctor - Hospital Residency. +5% to find FAK's in Hospitals. Prerequisite: Surgery. Civilian Cop - Expert Pistol Training. +5% to hit with a pistol. Prerequisite: Advanced Pistol Training. Firefighter - Expert Axe Proficiency. +5% to hit with an axe. Prerequisite: Axe Proficiency. Consumer - Expert Bargain Hunting. +5% to searches in Malls. Prerequisite: Bargain Hunting. Zombie Corpse - Flesh Rot. Attacking players cannot determine zombie's HP value. Prerequisite: Brain Rot. (The logic here is that this is a CAREER ZOMBIE. Brain Rot makes it nearly impossible to revivify them, so their bodies are starting to decompose. Typically, when a zombie is hit, its total HP is shown to the attacking player. Players who attack a "Flesh Rotter" would only receive the message, "You attack a zombie for 5 damage, but its rotten flesh prevents you from determining its total HP.") SUMMARY All in all, these are simply meant to be little boosts for everyone's playing style of choice. Each skill was chosen specifically to encourage playing in character for the chosen character class. Some skills may be seen as overpowered, but they were picked specifically to balance with the other Expert skills. Remember each player can only choose ONE of the skills above, regardless of their starting class. My original idea was to limit these skills to the player's chosen starting class, but I was convinced that newbies might not realize the late game implications of their class choice. Another idea was to incorporate "Headshot" into this list, but the feedback on that was mixed as well. Thanks to Pesatyel and everyone else who contributed ideas for improvement to this in the Discussion forum.

Keep Votes

1. Author keep. --Matt Scott ⁹ 14:39, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
2. Keep -- Similar to other suggestions, but this one's still good. My only concern is "Expert Free Running". I wouldn't really see a use for it. Opportunities would come up rarely. Most buildings are either (a) open to the street; (b) very strongly barricaded; or (c) extremely heavily barricaded. Most wouldn't rest if a building's just at heavily barricaded; they'd either keep it as an entry point or take it to the max. But still, this is a good idea.Waluigi Freak 99 14:58, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
3. Keep - Will add more squad specilization.--Canuhearmenow ^Hunt! 16:14, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
4. Keep - I like it. It's damn certain to fall, but most kill votes are based on objections to specifics and numbers. I personally think the idea behind it is sound, and will support this principle any time it comes round. Normally a kill vote, but it won't make any difference at this stage and I wanted to voice my support for the ideas and work behind it. --The Supreme Court ^RR 23:12, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
5. Keep - The people voting spam obviously didn't bother reading the suggestion...--Labine50 ^MH|^ME|^P 00:52, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
6. Heil! Mmmm, tasty. She's a bit too sweet for the survivor's side, but I like it.MrAushvitz 04:47, 30 December 2006 (UTC)
   

Kill Votes

1. Kill - I like it, but I'm concerned about the potential for abuse. I could start out as a scientist, pick up all available scientist skills for 75 xp pr. skill, and then change my class to military by picking a military skill. That would save my lots of xp by suddenly allowing me to buy military skills for 75 xp, instead of the 150 I would normally spend. Fix that, and you have my vote. - BzAli 15:00, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
2. kill I don't like the zombie skill. Asheets 17:04, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
3. Kill Pretty much each one of these skills even by itself is really unbalanced. --Jon Pyre 17:06, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
4. Kill - I don't like the idea of some skills being permanently closed off from me. --Toejam 18:24, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
5. Kill - But keep trying. I like what you're trying to do, however you need to tweak the balance a little bit, and the bonuses need not all be combat related. For example, why not give firemen a barricading skill? --Uncle Bill 21:17, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
6. Kill - Interestingly, some skills have more prerequisites than others. And as Funt has already said, some of these skills are so either underpowered or overpowered that it would be a no-brainier deciding which to take. And like Toejam, I don't like having some skills closed off to me based on class, or actually subclasses. --Wikidead 21:24, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
7. kill I do like the idea but... the zombie skill is too good the consumers is rubbish and the doctors worse. I think the rest are salvagable but need further development 1st. put each on the talk page for seperate comments and clarify the point BzAli made about changing class. A better idea might be to allow a specialist skill every 10th level, no worries about class change or newbs and keeps a few new skills open to all!--Honestmistake 22:00, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
8. Kill, and change Why don't you just have the starting class stay the same? also, you should have some skills related to barricading and such. and there should be some way to change your mind... actually, one skill every ten levels sound great, and that would acctually add more variety! and you should make more skills for zombies, they are already to restricted. and funt solo has a point: the medic skill should heal an extra 5hp everywhere exept a powered hospital (which already has an extra 5hp.) Wow, that was long. --AlexanderRM 6:40 PM, 5 january 2007 (EST)
   

Spam/Dupe Votes

1. Spam - totally unbalanced. You're gifting every single zombie in the game (once they reach level 10) with a really powerful skill - not knowing their HP when you attack them means you're effectively fighting blind. That's really powerful. On the other hand, there's a +5% shopping skill? That's just crap - nobody would take it. The +5HP when outside doesn't even make sense - someone could heal 15HP in the street, but only 10HP in a building which has beds etc.? I appreciate what you're trying to do here - but it's just not balanced. --Funt Solo 16:36, 29 December 2006 (UTC) I feel I should add this point: if every survivor took +5% on shotgun attacks (which they could), then (in effect) you're suggesting that there be a blanket +5% on shotgun attacks for all survivors over level 10. Is that fair? Balanced? Required? --Funt Solo 17:37, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
2. Go away - I despise these suggestions that think that all starting firemen only use the axe. --Joe O'Wood TALKCONTRIBSUD 20:29, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

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Implemented Suggestions

Contact Dropdown List Fun Colours LOL

I like to think I had something to do with this being implemented since I posted some code to make it work... Suggestions/16th-Feb-2007#Contact_Dropdown_List_Fun_Colours_LOL

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Display AP Cost for dropping items

My first implemented suggestion: Suggestions/16th-Feb-2007#Display_AP_cost_for_dropping_items

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