I FIRMLY RESIST THE TEMPATION TO MAKE A BAD PUN INVOLVING THE WORD “SAGE” [Author: lum]

The Web Page Formerly Known As Comments From The Dev Team was just updated with Sage’s words on his somewhat controversial proposal to remove recall from aggressors.

Let me say straight out that I am not a recall hater. I think the spell is an excellent spell which may be one of the keys to the success of UO. Friends can readily meet up with one another in UO via this travel spell. They don’t have to trek across the landscape for hours on end hoping to catch a boat just to start an adventure with their buddies three hours later. Recall, however, has a bigger split personality than Harvey Dent; it is the dark side of the spell that I wish to address. Recall could just as easily have been titled, “Remove me from danger”. Much like Sir Robin’s Tune in Bard’s Tale III, recall is a quick way to hop out of a situation when things start to get uncomfortable.

Frankly, I would love a spell like this at the office. When I introduce my next “over the top” design document in a meeting, I will have a little wooden oval in my hand with a glyph on the front. When I feel things are getting ugly and the Nerf guns come to bear on my head, I will chant “Kal Ort Por”, and reappear in my office. This is part of the problem. For UO to have a feeling of danger, immediate escape routes are not a good thing. With player versus player combat, this problem is amplified, and what was once a convenience becomes an easy way to harass any passersby.

Check the site for his comments in full.