Also, been messing around on a MudRev realm, trying things out. I think MudRev finally got Thieves right. There is a valid reason to play thieves in MudRev realms, and I think we can use some of that philosophy for GMud. Thieves have the most powerful, very nasty backstabs in a MR realm, along with perfect stealth from the start. I think increasing their BS here, along with giving them shadowhome (think that's what it's called; the ability to hide and rest), then we can finally make thieves a viable option. Of course, these updates would come with an EXP table increase as well. Thoughts?
For whatever reason I thought thieves already had a) the most impressive backstabs in the game and b) shadowhome. Obviously I'm wrong on b) - I thought I read it had been implemented here. Shadowhome should happen immediately.
Superstealth from the beginning would be a huge benefit to them as well.
I was also under the impression that thieves, when properly made, could out backstab all other chars. I don't know the formula on backstabs, but they should have the highest backstabs in the realm at the same lvl as others. I would invite you to check out some lvl 60-70 thieves with a good backstab weapon before you change anything there though. One guy was claiming to get off 800+ backstab rounds with his thief which was worth half the highest char in the realms health.
The problem with thieves is that they suck to script with. They are fragile, don't do much damage and don't contribute with any party spells/blesses.... especially when there is more than one monster. Essentially what they exist for are backstab parties and the 4th quest cloak.
I think we could probably have a healthy debate on what chars need adjustments, gypsies, missionaries, thieves and warlocks are certainly underrepresented, and others like rangers certainly never seem to matter. I think we should implement the changes one at a time though.