Original vs. Warlord

[Togakure]

The beta testing team, Wilbo.

Yes Puzz, you know I know all of this, and I sympathize and agree with the great majority of what you've been saying about these issues for many years now. When I read what you wrote about an NC being a monk on a horse, and then looked at my 1.02 stat and compared that to over a year of playing 1.02 daily online with some very good players and using NCs extensively, I had to disagree with the extremity of that statement. Monks don't suffer from a spear penalty nor all the disadvantages associated with cav. The thread you linked is titled "Fixing STW/MI v1.02," and there is no indication that the stats posted in it are actually modified WE 1.00. When I compared the NC stat shown in your post to my 1.02 troopstats.txt values, they didn't match up.

These guys benefit from multiple perspectives. You've got a very credible opinion, but you're not the only valid opinion on STW here. I stopped using my account with the Outstanding STW Player badge on it, but I'm still the same player. I don't know nearly as much about the mechanics as you do, but I do know how to play, have played a lot, and I think my subjective experience is credible.

Yes, a great many of STW's original online elite couldn't stomach 1.02 and left. But many stayed. I came along just after the change and had no choice but to play 1.02. With the rules in effect we managed to have many months of very fun, reasonably balanced games before the server shut down, and the experience wasn't nearly as bad as some of the old-timers made it out to be. I've since played some 1.12, 1.03, and 1.05 and games online--including the 1.03 tournament in which you and Tosa beat out me and Kas 3-1--enjoying all of the available stats.

All this aside, for single-player it's just a matter of preference. Players can play whatever patch floats their boat and make adjustments as they see fit. I'm sure your advice will be heeded, so no worries there. But when I see what I believe to be an exaggerated opinion expressed and heeded with no other perspectives being offered, I feel obliged to speak up. Thanks for the clarification on what that stat actually is.