I'm curious, why the change to take the spell further away from the PnP version, what areas where being exploited, and just how large scale was this. I can recall the last time D+D came up, it was mentioned how the fact it required LoS on the spell version and not the item version was actually not the way it had been intended to be implemented. So I'm sort of curious why the change to it being the way it was intended now?
Every other huge change to a spell in the past was done to make them closer to the PnP version and this one seems to be aimed at taking it further away, a lot further away, and in time as always happens the way it is implemented in game will become the way it works in most peoples minds. Regardless of what the books say so I think such a huge change like that may be something that sort of.... deserves to be explained a little.
I know in my experience, I was seeing people using DD items to get into areas they are NOT supposed to be in, as well as using it to exploit dungeons and bypass lots of encounters and such.
On the other hand I've seen it used to get round bugs and doors that lock really quickly behind folk. (Less of a problem with the new ways to get doors open) or just to avoid the smash this door down until it's gone' solution to locked doors. In exactly the same manner, and it should be noted that DD is PnP wise usable in such a manner, you don't have to see something to DD to it. Indeed the item version was closer to the PnP version than the spell book version.
Now can it be exploited yes, but anything can be, I'm just curious as to why it was felt so bad an exploit as to take the spell further away from the PnP rather than closer when usually the direction is the other way. If it's being used to bypass encounters, well thats Ninja Looting and the punishment for Ninja Looting is pretty set I believe.
((As a note I don't have a char that uses the spell that much active right now. This isn't a 'Oh noes this really hurts me' post. More a 'This seems to have come out of nowhere because the last time DD was discussed the fact the item version was closer to the PnP was the stuff coming from the Admins))
What was changed? I haven't had the opportunity to use the spell with someone casting it.
Going to guess it was made "line of sight" again.
As I noted in my changelog, this was done to address a few exploits in various areas that I was made aware of.
Some of those will likely be dealt with in the areas themselves, as one particularly problematic one already was. However, some are due to tileset bugs that are beyond my power to fix.
That aside, DD is a fun spell and has its utility, but that utility should never include being able to bypass large sections of a dungeon or its encounters. This change may be undone in the future, pending some design alterations, we'll see.
Okay was just curious as I said none of my chars really use it, except via boots to win races and Caine to jump around Arabel Square, so was just curious.
I have used Hoppy Feet a few times in combat to get a tactical advantage, like attacking archers who were firing across a body of water, or a bridge clogged with undead to attack their other units that were causing havoc on the other side. (Practical uses I might add.) In each instance I had LoS.