Custom Skills:
Thats right! We’re trying this again. So how are they different this time?

1. They cannot be used in Raid Bosses

2. They cannot be used in any Site Wide events

3. When submitted, they enter a waiting list for when they will be evaluated (1 every 30 days). At which time, the one that is currently being evaluated will be reached by a member of staff to create a discord ticket. This area is to discuss and help balance the skill to an acceptable level.

4. Before a player with a custom skill joins a thread, they must have TOTAL AGREEMENT from all participants in the thread they are joining. If even one player does not want them used, they do not function (these things can be considered god modding otherwise.)

Reasons for the above caveats:

#1
Bosses are difficult, Floor Bosses are difficult-er. Given the sheer amount of players present, even the slightest bit of bad numbers create a huge amount of work for all involved (Players & Staff). Couple this with the fact that these can cause contention, they will be blanket banned from these in entirety.

#2
Events are for the community, not for the individual player. It would be a nightmare to try to logistically get every writer to agree to them. The solution is simple, assume that no one agrees and move on. Some events also can give unique rewards, and there could be some that believe that the custom aided in efforts to obtain these rewards. Although they are balanced around the 10 SP cost, we’d like to avoid this. No Customs in Events, self run or otherwise.

#3
The last time these existed, we had a massive showing of them popping up everywhere. These things flooded the Approval section, commandeered general/systems chat. This is something we’d like to avoid, as it was harmful to more relevant discussions in these areas. Likewise, the sheer strain they put on staff, it turned into a madhouse. Each one has to be carefully checked for loop holes, and checked for strength against the 10 SP cost. This takes time, and 30 days should be more than enough.

#4
Although small, these can provide an edge that wasn’t present before. Custom skills cannot be harmful to other players' experiences on site. To make this the case our solution is to allow them to be a choice if they can be used (much in the vein of killing/shoving another player.) Some writers want difficulty, or want a vanilla experience and this will allow them to do so without fear of a custom skill changing this.

So what's the process?
The character must have a Paragon Level of 50+

1. First Submit the skill for evaluation using your personal evaluation topic (in #approvals) much like crafting, Only the name of the skill is required. It will be added to the list kept here. This list is the waiting list using the timestamp as your place in line. Each writer is allowed one character in the waiting list at any given time, further additions will be barred.

WARNING: If a person in line hassles a member of staff in any way due to the process or how long it takes, they will be moved to the END of the waiting list. CS are not the staff’s current focus and cannot afford the stress of having them being blasted on any channel.

2. Once the skill is next up in the waiting list, a member of staff will approach you and have you create a discord ticket. This is the place where the skills function can be discussed in an open way. All members of staff are welcome to chime in their thoughts, or disagreements. This is where the player can broadcast their idea, not in the general channels of the discord (Including but not limited to General/Frontlines/Systems).

WARNING: This is meant to be a hassle free experience, for both the player involved and the staff responsible for them. There will be no arguments, and should the conversation transition to an argument the responsibility falls on the player. Staff’s main goal is to allow these to be a ‘fun’ addition to a player, not an overwhelming power gain in the vein of Uniques past.

3. After all is said and done, staff has helped you create something ‘fun’ and interesting as an addition to your character. A member of staff will take the design and put it up for all to see, once this point is reached it can be included in your character.

When you submit a custom skill for approval, this means you have agreed and read all of the above. We expect a veteran player who has reached the criteria to fully understand the procedure and stipulations.

F.A.Q
Wont this make the game too easy/unbalanced?: Not really, given that the characters that can submit a custom skill are level 82. This means the character has obtained 359700 EXP. For context that is 72 times the exp reward for the hardest fights in the game. 

Staff assumes at this point, the character in question has completed most if not all quests in the current game. The small impact these give, either through speed or item drops to be minimal at best. From our point of view, the level 82 character wouldn’t have an issue regardless. With or without a custom skill.
 

I have a complaint, that’s not fair/balanced: Again, given the above a level 82+ character isn’t going to have trouble in standard content. We will not consider complaints regarding how a character at this mechanical power saved a single post or earned another 1000 col from a kill as a result of a custom skill. This is because, it's likely that the 1000 col is tiny by comparison to the col they have stuffed in their wallet. Don’t worry, you’ll end up getting one too.
 

Their Custom Skill is better than mine: The responsibility for design comes from the player, our job is to weigh the effect and decide if it is worth 10 SP or not. In the event that a player's custom seems weaker than others, the primary responsibility falls on the player's initial design. Not Staff.
 

What if mine ends up being too strong?: Staff reserves the right to change or alter any Custom Skill to match it to its 10 SP cost. If at any point balance changes or loopholes in its operation are found that allow it to exceed this consistent 10 SP cost, it will be re-evaluated. Until this time, the skill will become inactive and expected to be resubmitted using the above procedure.
 

What if I make one, and don't like it?: A custom skill can be refunded like any other using its 10 SP cost. However, in the event of trying to create a new one the player must follow the procedure above and will be placed into the waiting list as if this was their first submission.

Yours Truly,
Residential Spreadsheet Warlock, Community Idiot Raidou