With regard to experience, anyone who has been playing longer should have an advantage over new players, so I don't see how that is even an issue.
Oh, I agree with this. I'm not trying to argue that it shouldn't be that way. What I don't want to see, though, is that after two or three years, that every spell some new player tries to make comes back marked "Denied, some else already has that". This could be insanely frustrating, especially when they are submitting iconic spells, like Fireballs, Magic Missiles, Invisibility, etc.
At the early stages there will be lots of new spells to be created, later on in the game, if there are hundreds of spells already created, the need/idea of new ones may be limited.
What I'm not understanding, though, is why we have to limit the learning of basic spells just because someone else already made a spell with the same effect. Does it matter if two people have discovered the formula for a Light spell independently? What intrinsic property of a spell makes it so that once it has been "discovered", that no one else can ever discover it without first finding the person that discovered it first?
Keep in mind that it is completely possible for someone to independently develop the exact same spell and effect without ever even knowing that someone else has already developed it. Especially when it comes to standard magical fantasy fodder like Invisibility, Magic Missiles, Healing, etc. The possibility that someone can't independently invent, research, learn, and cast somethings as simple as a Sleep spell
because someone else already created a spell with that effect is mind boggling. Especially if, as it seems like will be the case, creating and researching spells is a big part of the game.
We will find ways to ensure spells get into the game.
Something will be worked out regarding duplication of spells and we will let people know what that is once it is clear to the GMs.
I'm glad to hear that. I am eager to find out what measures will be devised to to ensure this. Personally, I'd try to work something out based on the complexity of the spell. i.e. a [1,1,1] spell should be trivial to duplicate. A [2,3,3] much harder, and a [5,5,5] nearly impossible.
Just remember we haven't actually started the game proper yet and hopefully once it is active, things will make more sense.
I do trust that you will come up with something good to cover these situations.
