QUOTE(Areena @ Mar 10 2008, 09:28 PM)
this may be out of place or too late, but why doesnt magic have to be the same throughout the world. Why can't different areas have different ways of doing it?
That would depend on how much work the programing and art teams want to do.
I've printed out the magic portion of the Skill Tree from the Wiki, and I am consolidating the information in the threads. My goal is to write up an overall magic system that contains as much of the earlier material as possible while removing contradictions and things that are obviously impractical. The result will not really be a world magic system, but more of a framework that each region could cherry pick from and expand according to the cultural and spiritual values of that region.
For example, Life Magic and Death Magic are both mentioned extensively, along with some conflicting defintions of what they might mean. I'll work out a middle ground that describes each and provides overall parameters that should simplify the work for the programming team. From that foundation a writer could easily extrapolate a local Death Magic, for example, that would incorporate some life drain spells, some summoning spells, some debuffs, and so on, and then apply their local system to the local culture.
So Death Magic in one region might be based on reagents, in another it might be based on blood magic, in yet another it might be dark energy, and in still another it might be possible to start with reagents and work up to dark energy as the associated skills and attributes of the player increase.
Either way, there has to be a basic system in place that the programming team can implement and expand. My aim is to be as modular as possible, minimizing the work for programmers and maximizing the flexibility for writing, design, art, and so on.
Anyhow, it's going to take awhile to work up. And in the end, everyone might decide I'm being arrogant and pushy and reject it in it's entirety.
In the meantime, though, it'll keep me busy for awhile. Whether the system is accepted or rejected, it'll provide a foundation I can use to create a workable magic system for Kandonda, and hopefully everyone else as well.