Every MMO has a dedicated tank, except for Wizard101. Aggravating spells like Taunt are supposed to lock your enemy's focus, forcing them to attack you against their will, but in this game it does pretty much nothing. You could use it 3 or more times and the enemy would continue attacking your teammates, making this effect completely useless. The same goes for pacifying spells such as Soothe, no matter how many times you use it, it doesn't effect the enemy's chances of hitting you. This invalidates Ice as a class in a group. You're better off having a Life on your team, especially since Jade gear gives them tank-like resist. I propose Taunt be changed to force your enemy to attack you for a couple turns like in traditional MMO's and have pacifying spells reset your aggravation to 0%. I also propose only allowing Life to have a pacifying spell as that is an exclusive ability to support classes in traditional MMO's, you can still however purchase this spell with a training point if you're not a Life wizard. These changes will finally allow Ice to fulfill their proper role as the damage sponge.
You make a generalized and fallacious statement claiming that "Thamaturges are useless" because of two of the least used spells in the game not working like how you want them to?
Your proposals are also not making much sense either.
For one, to comment and the actual usefulness of wizards.
The school if you haven't noticed has taken a sharp turn from level about 90 onwards. The school becomes very offensive while still retaining it's high defensive capabilities making the school one of the most feared and useful of the spiral.
No one no longer underestimates ice, even ice mobs can be difficult at times.
So, your comment you made is extremely one-sided and simply false.
Now, on to the issue of taunt.
This is how threat levels work. Enemies usually attack the opponent they are facing. As you know, if its you alone and it's two mobs, they will both attack you.
Threats are increased when:
You heal. Your pet heals you. You attack an enemy (especially with a large hit and they survive). You taunt them. (Least effective) - Also depends on the taunt used.
They are the two least used spells in the game because of how useless they are.
My proposals make perfect sense, they are how the spells are SUPPOSED to work traditionally.
I've noticed the change, and it's a completely separate issue involving the problem of role diversity in an MMO, but I'm not going to bother getting into it since this is the way Kingsisle intended their wizards to be so everybody has the opportunity to play on their own if they have to. I'm not saying Ice is the weakest school, I'm saying it is the least useful class in a group, completely overshadowed by Life wizards in nearly every way.
I know exactly how aggravation works in Wizard101 and I know for a fact it is luck based, but that's the issue with taunt, it's inconsistent. Like I said before, it's one of the least used spells because players feel there's no reason to use it if it has a high chance of doing absolutely nothing when you could've spent a turn shielding or healing. This isn't how it's supposed to be.
Even at the lowest level, players should know that if they play Storm or Fire they shouldn't be spamming shields, they should be buffing up while the tank takes the hits and the healer keeps them alive. These are standard MMO elements that shouldn't have to be explained. The only argument I can think of regarding the game's simplicity is that it's for kids, but even we can see Kingsisle is trying to shove that standard to the side.
I want to make it clear that I don't dislike the Ice school in any way. I want to improve them as the tanks they're meant to be. I want Ice wizards to be a dungeon standard. I want Wizard101 to be a real MMO.
I would like to make one more proposal, if these changes are ever put into the game: Make Taunt an Ice exclusive spell, otherwise these changes will mean nothing if every other school can just put on Jade gear and spam it themselves. Thank you.
wizards. 