What made you decide to play a spell caster?

[tgu]

As the title says, what made you initially decide to play a spell caster?

It could be short, it can be long (as to why).

I'd love to hear what motivation people had to be a spell caster.

[stille_nacht]

I try to portray myself as a sophisticated, knowleagable person with my math-fu, tolerant outlook, and willingness to teach. However i will abandon that for a moment to divulge the true reason i am always a mage.

MOAR BIGGER NUMBEHRRSSS!!!!!!

i play mage because of DAMAGE! i love to one shot things that other people must beat on, who cares if im squishy if the mob's hp leaps down when i hit it!

Screw damage over time, i want massive nukes!

needless to say, i was pretty disappointed with what DDO turned out to be like for mages... ah well, my first life elven archmage has the maximum even intelligence for a first life elven archmage now... might tr to sorc for above purpose

[Kourier]

Fingering people without a follow-up lawsuit. Sometimes wailing or screaming is involved too.

[MsEricka]

So I could farm epic scrolls.

Seriously.

[Fejj]

My initial thoughts starting any new game are,

-Melee is the easy button, and fails to keep my attention
-Casters require thought, planning, use of limited resources, and have HUGE NUKES!!!!

-Melee starts strong, ends weak
-Casters start weak end strong

-Lots of melee running around (because its easy)
-Limited casters (because its harder)

-Melee in low demand
-Casters in high demand

-Melee, swing, swing, swing,
-Casters have a more active style of play

-- This is not based on ddo specifically, but its the reason my first characters in most any game are casters.

[LoveNeverFails]

Fingering people without a follow-up lawsuit. Sometimes wailing or screaming is involved too.

All of the above, but this was my favorite...

[licho]

My reasons:
They offers enought firepower to alter the run.
They have a lot of tools for every situacion.
Since i dont like melee, its too chaotic.
Since i like ranged, but archery is...

[Pape_27]

started the game with

1) a barb - meh, didnt like it. deleted before i left Korthos
2) fighter - not too bad, but too many pots, too expensive - deleted before leaving korthos
3) ranger - liked it, leveled to 6. deleted
4) cleric - mix of melee and spells, loved it; first toon i capped! Now a Archmage TR.

[hityawithastick]

Vaarsuvius and Jarlaxle.

[daddio42]

Guilt. I was running end game quests with various melees. Parties regularly had to wait for arcane caster or clerics/FvSs. So I created both.

[lazylaz]

My first caster was my second ever character and he was (and still is) a cleric/fighter. Unfortunately that was when I still hadn't pulled my head out of memories of AD&D and he's slowly managed to get up to level 12 in four years. But he was fun then and he's still fun now.

[unfiguroutable]

My initial thoughts starting any new game are,

-Melee is the easy button, and fails to keep my attention
-Casters require thought, planning, use of limited resources, and have HUGE NUKES!!!!

-Melee starts strong, ends weak
-Casters start weak end strong

-Lots of melee running around (because its easy)
-Limited casters (because its harder)

-Melee in low demand
-Casters in high demand

-Melee, swing, swing, swing,
-Casters have a more active style of play

-- This is not based on ddo specifically, but its the reason my first characters in most any game are casters.

QFT ^^^this

[nucphyschem]

My initial thoughts starting any new game are,

-Melee is the easy button, and fails to keep my attention
-Casters require thought, planning, use of limited resources, and have HUGE NUKES!!!!

-Melee starts strong, ends weak
-Casters start weak end strong

-Lots of melee running around (because its easy)
-Limited casters (because its harder)

-Melee in low demand
-Casters in high demand

-Melee, swing, swing, swing,
-Casters have a more active style of play

-- This is not based on ddo specifically, but its the reason my first characters in most any game are casters.

This is my reasoning when I want a nonthinking game session I log onto my fighter

[sirgog]

Because I played when the level cap was 14, back when casters were so much better than melees it wasn't funny.

[steelblueskies]

because i like the wizard sterotyping, research a wee bit before starting off. many mmo's the caster is the starter class as their abilities are defined inherently and thus require nothing or next to it as a first character, but here this is not the case. this game follows the paladin as die-hard-survivability-as-a-newbie approach, so once getting a decent bankroll with that guy and picking up a few store goodies over the holidays, i went back to start up the tactical planner's powerhouse. see here gear isn't as pressing for most of the content to a caster either, as compared to a melee, and has significantly restricted options for improvement to performance. it's all in spedning a fortune to know everything you can to throw at them if it might be useful if prepared. and hey, you are more likely to pull off something situationally godlike, and turn the tide or flub it and drown everyone. or skip the everyone, and face the same then just another tin clad meatball with a pointy stick.
even better on a fleshy archmage. last longer, and if you need healing you are doin' it wrong. or failed to plan.

[Mark_G]

To the OP---by "spell caster", did you mean Wizard/Sorcerer (as all of the replies seem to be about arcane casters) or did you mean any class whose primary focus is to cast spells?

If the answer is Wizard/Sorc, I like playing WF for self healing and, after 7th/8th level and pre U9, for firewall as the "easy button" for a while in order to solo. Post update 9, I'll probably still like playing them and will enjoy coming up with new tactics.

If you are looking for any spell caster, I enjoy playing clerics because it is fairly easy to find groups. I like helping out, too...

[Postumus]

Why did I decide to play a spell caster?

um.. spells?

[dankvader]

Fingering people without a follow-up lawsuit. Sometimes wailing or screaming is involved too.

This.

I was going to say something else, but this is what it all comes down to...

[Vanquishedfo]

Well I think for me it all started with a certain red robe wearing wizard who later turned to the black, became known as master of time, lord of the tower, and could have defeated every god of his worlds pantheon only to choose not to once he knew for certain he would succeed, to spare those he cared for.

I wont name him simply because he should be known by all who would carry a spell book in D&Dom. But by my standard elminster whom I shall name is little better then a cleric who gets on thier knees and opens wide for thier diety. There is a distinct difference between arcane and divine wielders which i think is not as clearly defined as it should be when RPing those roles is largely disdained.

I started PnP more into Sword then Sorcery but my mind quickly changed one fateful day after a foolish ******bag of a DM thought forcing me to play a drow fighter mage when I wanted to make an oriental samurai paladin was funny. Side note I was the only one he made play something the rest he allowed to roll what they wanted to be.

So stuck with a dark elf who was constantly being insulted and discriminated against, and an odd split of 6/3 ftr wiz(2nd ed rules) who seemed to get nothing but cursed items( had to be rezzed 3 times first campagin, and trust me I wasnt trying to get this nightmare id been stuck with killed) I struggled on, mocked by some of the others.

I vowed that night I would follow in that sickly twin brother's foot steps and rival the powers that be, including the DM. This lead to a campaign on and off the table. Slowly moving the group to a new view of how the group should govern its members including the DM who far to frequently where up till that point using thier position to grief players they might have current personal drama with.

In time as the DM was trained to be a rules lawyer and narator of the story as well as improv actor of an entire cast. Meanwhile in game I slowly did something I found it odd others in the group didnt. I learned from the villain NPCs from some of the most famous printed modules. Among the most influential in my plans would be the likes of Kerapatis in white plume mountain, that wizard of the red then black robe i wont name, and a few others.

I traveled the planes and visited virtually every printed campaign set, and many home brewed ones. Amassing quietly a collection of ways to become insanely powerful, and stockpiling away frequently the means to do so we had taken from the very foes we vanquished.

There was no limit to my goal and thus the wizard alone was the only choice for a class that could answer such a challenge. I created new spells careful balanced on the surface to be allowed, but like dominoes, one by one, until when the day came it seemed as if nothing but the fate of a super npc who would become the greatest villain( and occasionally patron) our group had ever known. Infact when I sat behind the DM screen Id frequently use my old character/now npc and his goal as the focus of whatever quest the players where being sent on.

After him I never played another wizard as it felt like cheating on him. He would be re imagined in later editions and on numerous MMO both before and after DDO came out.

[Emili]

Fingering people without a follow-up lawsuit. Sometimes wailing or screaming is involved too.

Ooo

Because I played when the level cap was 14, back when casters were so much better than melees it wasn't funny.

This is quite true... casters are the easy class to play because they have all the versitility granted within spell is less to actually think about come stratefy or tactics in a quest - you have a few button presses to overcome and fulfill the tasks. When orchard was end game lfms abounf for arcane/cleric parties ... was fine for my arcane and clerics fact being they could solo much the content, my melee I ended up soloing most that content for flag too but at a slower pace because I had to use more strategy to reach the end. Solo reaver at level, solo monestary at level - arcane is an easy class to do it all... less to think 'bout and less what if's to consider.

btw... the coming U9 mod will bring back those days - caster viability in epic/end-game raid increase 10 fold while melee in general a slight nerfing.

My initial thoughts starting any new game are,

-Melee is the easy button, and fails to keep my attention
-Casters require thought, planning, use of limited resources, and have HUGE NUKES!!!!

-Melee starts strong, ends weak
-Casters start weak end strong

-Lots of melee running around (because its easy)
-Limited casters (because its harder)

-Melee in low demand
-Casters in high demand

-Melee, swing, swing, swing,
-Casters have a more active style of play

-- This is not based on ddo specifically, but its the reason my first characters in most any game are casters.

Actually I find it quite the opposite... caster being less thinking that is. A caster is easily in control in the higher levels. There is less to think about than a melee when at mid or higher levels. i.e. solo inferno, solo epic fens...

I can solo much content easier on a caster because less thinking and strategy becomes involved. I can press a button and have things done, I can scroll farm and do things it would take twice or even three times as long on a melee... Caster have versitility automation - spell here spell there while melee are akin to doing things by hand. Casters have more built in tools (their spells) while melee have but few (a tactic) here or there and thier weapons... Caster is much easier to build while a good melee harder to tweak...

I like my casters and I have one of each class and the reason is because I like to play the game and know it's in's and out's first hand. Playing the game from different classes allows you and understanding of the game from a different perspective... and in group becomes an understanding of the groups dynamic and power.