Thursday, September 18, 2008

Mage abilities I’d like to have in real life

TyphoonAndrew’s asked us what abilities – spells, affects or powers – from the game we’d like to have in real life. We’re not allowed to pick more than five of them.

He mixes the classes freely, from flight form to mind control and divine shield. Being a dedicated mage I’ve decided to stick to the mage class. There are enough goodies there to make me think twice about it.

This is the five I finally came up with:

Teleport
Just imagine being able to head off for a stroll in Central Park NY, and then instantly go to Paris for a lunch in Quartier Latin…. Not having to think about air pollution. Sigh. Though a Star Trek beam would be even cooler, but now we’re limited to the warcraft universe

Polymorf
It would be tempting to pick one of the offensive spells of the mage. Like a fireball or at least a smallish but quick icelance to protect yourself against anyone attempting to rob you or knock you down. But since I sincerely think that the abundance of weapons circulating contributes to violence and crime, I couldn’t possibly have one of those abilities myself. Polymorf on the other hand is just perfect. I couldn’t use it unless attacked (= turning PvP-flagged), and then it would be the most peaceful defence mechanism you could think of. Just keep the robber polymorfed, tie a rope around his neck and lead him to the police station.

Slow fall
I’m too scared to try out parachute jumping, but if I had a reliable slow fall I’m convinced I enjoy it immensely. I'd visit every accessable high point in the world I could think of and then just enjoy the ride.

Invisibility
I did think about this one twice. It kind of sucks if you compare it to vanish/stealth of a rogue. The duration is very short, so you can’t sneak around for long, learning secrets and doing investigations on things you’re curious about. But the aggro dump is a good thing as it is. You can escape any kind of conflict situation with this one, whether it’s your other half, your kids or your boss. And there are moments in your life when you make a fool of yourself and going invisible for even just a few seconds, long enough to escape the place, would feel like a blessing. The competitor to this spot was Counterspell (to make stupid people shut up).

Ritual of refreshment
You can’t deny it’s handy, though I’m a little afraid I’d overuse it. Won’t the diet become sort of repetitive after a while? I just hope it’s like the Tolkien elf bread, that it tastes a lot better than it looks.

A warning
Finally a little warning to the readers: don’t start thinking about this. It gets stuck in your head. I’ve surprised myself now several times, visualizing how people would look in sheep form, or dreaming about teleporting to the other side of Earth. But if you do, don’t blame me. Blame TyphoonAndrew. It was he who came up with this silly idea.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hehe. :) Glad its infectious. Blame me? I say its inspiration for the 21st century of gadgets and toys. And a rocket pack.
*shadowmeld*

Gevlon said...

When I look around and see the people all around the world doing what they doing, I can only think of one spell: Arcane Brilliance. I would keep on casting it all the time. That +40 IQ would push *most* of them over 100, and it would be a blessing, even it would last for an hour.

Anonymous said...

I would change Teleport for Portal, to do not upset others menbers of my "party"..... and to lure them in the incorrect ones(rocal/Vladivostock) when I wish to stay alone ;-)

Andrew said...

Well, Invisibility would be on my list except the current version doesn't allow you to see anyone when invisible unless they are also invisible or have the ability to see invisibility, right?

So, my list would include:

• Teleport
• Portal
• Blink
• Arcane Brilliance
• “Summon food buffet”

My next 5 choices (in order): Mana Shield, Slow Fall, Polymorph, Invisibility, and ice armor.


FYI, if you like the thought of teleportation, you should read the book Jumper by Stephen Gould, not just see the movie or the book rewritten just for the movie.

krizzlybear said...

Mirror Image needs to be on that list. 4 Larísas would make for a more efficiently-run inn. The service would be simply astounding!

Anonymous said...

I hate WoW for having gotten me addicted to the Hearthstone.

Sooo many times in life now I feel angry because I catch myself thinking "it's ok, I can go even though I'm tired, coz I'll just Hearthstone back" then... Doh! Wait! I can't :(

That's the only spell I'd really really want in real life: Hearthstone!

Alerexis said...

Happy pre-TLAP day.

Fish said...

Am I seriously the first one to say pyroblast? traffic jams, shrubbery, annoying neighbors. . .the possibilities are endless.

I would say arcane explosion, but thats not very bystander friendly. . .

Anonymous said...

@Typhoonandrew. Agreed. This is a wish list to send to the researchers of the world.

@Gevlon: I gave it a thought but honestly I mostly thought about buffing myself. I guess I'm a little more humble than your greedy goblin... :)

@Eishen: yeah Portal seems a bit more genereous, don't want to keep the goodies all to yourself.

@Andrew: Thanks for the tips, got to check that out. Imo the main thing about invisiblity in real life isn't just to sneak around, but to dump aggro.... If there are to many mobs for you to sheep.

@Krizzlybear: I think it's a bit of a cheat to jump into WotLK talents. And even though I don't think I'm the worst person in the world, I seriously don't love myself enough to want to have three copies of myself. But thanks for the thought, it was sweet!

@Voodooventures: I agree about HS. It's really a strong candidate. You man argue that teleport will serve you well, but to all of us who don't live in one of the world capitals, hs is indeed very usable.

@Antony912: I didn't quite get that.

@Fish: well I'm a peaceful person in real life. I guess I get rid of the aggressions in the game. Don't want to nuke people for real. But maybe that's just me.