If players didn't realize how overpowered Charm was on Live, then perhaps the developers didn't either. I've seen it before, developers design something to be a certain way in their minds but players end up using the feature in a completely different way. It has caused classes to be redesigned to better suit the way the players play, rather than the way the developers intended in some games. Game designers are human beings who are capable of mistakes and not being able to predict the future. We shouldn't expect them to foretell every single outcome of a feature they add. And what often happens when a miscalculation happens, and a new feature or item or ability gives players a bit too much power, sometimes to the point of trivializing content? The dreaded nerf bat.
I honestly don't think that P99 Charm is that far off from Live era Charm. Charm was dangerous then, and it is dangerous now. Do I believe that we have a 100% Live era Charm here? No, but I do think it's close enough.
Here's the thing though. Sometimes developers balance things not by what the top 5% or whatever of players are doing, but by what the majority of players are doing. Think for a moment about all of the changes made to P99 that served to balance things that did exist during Classic, but didn't receive widespread use, for example the Ivandyr's Hoop. If Classic's community was the same as P99's today, and Hoops and Charms and whatever else was so common, do you honestly think that there wouldn't have been changes made? That the devs wouldn't have taken a look at the state of the gameplay, the type of impact a single class or item was making on grouping and farming and raiding?
I really don't see any difference between the Hoop and Charm, or other things that shouldn't be happening like SoulFire. They are all things that if P99 existed in 1999 I believe would've absolutely been altered. We can't go back and change or fix Classic, but we can P99.
So while I do think there could still be some purpose in trying to make sure Charm is working as intended - and again, I think it pretty much is - I think we should also be considering a reasonable and appropriate change that fits P99 and Classic.
Lastly, I still haven't seen any parses posted. I'd love to do it myself but I'm not appropriate level yet.
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] (remind me what level the fireplace camp is in Unrest?)