Traps suggestion - long

[______________Amideh]

Like all MMORPG's, AO is heavily combat based. There are the 4 defined roles of tank, healer, nuker and crowd control, that we have seen in many other games (along with the pet classes).

It seems that there are a few classes that do not fit efficiently into the traditional mix, making them relatively less valuable in a group. Fixers and agents jump to mind, but I'm going to concentrate on fixers because that's what I know best right now.

The trick is making these classes useful to a group and unique, not just gimped lesser versions of the primary classes. Fixers, for example, are currently little more than less effective versions of soldiers that can run fast. They have a few unique abilities, but these abilities are not necessary to a good group, and the four other other roles listed above (tank, healer etc.) are much more important.

There has been a lot of talk about giving some "love" to fixers, by giving them more effective weapons, or giving them an MG/SMG specialization, or by changing the extraordinarily high cost of all their nanos. I support each of these changes, and think all of them are warranted. But there is a much simpler change available that would make them more loved and useful.

Simply:

Make traps more common, much more deadly, and more difficult to disarm. This would make detecting and neutralizing traps a real significant asset to a group, give the fixer a reason to maximize the kind of skills that we think they should be specializing in anyway, and overall make the fixer more loved by and needed by groups. It would not displace any other class, it would not make missions impossible. It would just give the fixer a group role commensurate with the concept behind the class.

Does this make sense?

[______________Amideh]

Guess my idea didn't resonate with anyone here, huh?