Artifact tax

[karis]

Another possibility would be to give the arts a lifetime. You have the fun to find it and use it for, let's say 4 weeks after this it disappears.

A variation of this strategy would be to reduce the lifetime of an artifact to maybe 1 week, but make it available to more players. On the other hand, this way the arts are not unique anymore. But more player's will be able to find and use them.

Forgive me, but I don't think it is a good way to 'rent' an art, or pay taxes. A  high level player will be able to afford this, the low level players don't.  Not unless the cash flow system is completly readjusted - which is a very difficult attempt, I think.

Karis

[Domino]

I still think the best answer to artifacts is randarts.  It's been successful before and is something that's an option in Vanilla and has been for years.

Sure there would be bugs to work out but why not?

[Emulord]

Randarts can make the game very easy tho.  in V, a mage might find a amazing randart katana which has slays and + to speed and attacks per round, but they cant use it.  In Mangband, they could trade it to a warrior.  Its better to make more ego types to fill for the fact that not a player cannot find all the arts just so that it is possible for a player to win the game without artifacts.

[Maegdae]

True.  However, they may bring a positive effect to the game's economy.  While the power boost they would bring may need balancing, their existence could encourage more high-level trading.  

[Big_Juan_Teh_Furby]

I don't think that arts should be taxed, or fade or anything of the sort.

I think we should drop static arts all together and put in random arts.

For me, I collected arts as a prize.  Angus and I would show/brag to each other quite constantly.  "Woo, check it out, speed ring +15 number 38!"...but there can be only one art.  "Yay, I need to buy another house because this art house is full!"

To each our own.

As far as having a gold cost to them, at the higher levels (where you'll probably run across most arts), it's almost a joke.  You all realize how easy it is to make money at bigger levels, right?  This would only hurt the smaller players who could actually USE some of the lower arts, like a boomerang.

I'm torn.  Call me greedy, but I'm of the mind of "*I* found it, you didn't, so if it sits locked away in my warehouse, so be it."  However, this could be solved by changing the static arts to random arts.

IMHO, anyway.