Saturday, 20th September 2014, 06:41 by Aule
Though I thank you for responding, neither of you understand my point. I'm not cursing the brand in general, for one thing. For some characters and playstyles, it may be excellent, but not for my character. When I go to poking something, it's because I know it can be killed with that stick and I want it to die right then. I don't want it to blink, be teleported, or banished to the Abyss. That's just outright annoying.
For another thing, this "don't wield items out of curiosity" mantra is, while instructive, not at all applicable here. There were two weapon types my character would try. Spear or trident. He was using one of those two, plain, still, at XL 8 or 9, when a gnoll on D:6 dropped the first ego version of said weapon. I was happy. I wielded it. I was then unhappy, but I remembered this thread and all the sagacious advice about how great distortion is, so I tried it, and used it and used it and used it for several levels, gaining more and more frustration and displeasure from it with every blinked monster who had a sliver of life left, only to come back again fully healed and every unique who got banished, taking any treasures with him (or her). To say I somehow brought this upon the character by wielding the very first ego weapon of his chosen type only is exactly the kind of condescension I referred to earlier, and all the more prickly because of its irrelevance.
Not everyone with every character must appreciate it. I know I do not with a DEWz. Were I playing a character who has less control over the environment, who relied solely on toe-to-toe melee to make it through the game, and who also was not interested in clearing levels, but just rushing through the game trying to win as fast as possible, then maybe I might appreciate it more. But I'm not playing that character. I'm playing a DEWz who wants the thing that is almost dead to die, not be transported away to happily heal itself, and I want to hoover up everything placed on a level in case there's something I really need. It's quite simple, really.
None of this speaks to the summary of my post, which is that the brand should auto ID with a confirmation to wield it. It only makes sense, especially given the dire circumstances that can be placed upon the unwielder.