I'm not sure why they changed it on standard UO, but I have numerous theories. The way the new system works is not the best way they could have done it, but they wanted to add more depth and overhaul the combat system. Personally I didn't like the changes either. Also, even the melee monsters deal various other forms of damage besides physical so you have to pay attention to the other forms of resistance that the different metals produce. Spell damage also changed a bit because you have a chance to lessen the damage with more than just magic resist skill. After AoS and the new combat systems, UO shifted to being heavily dependant on items, instead of just incorporating them into the game. With the new systems, the magical properties of your armor are just as important as the resistance it gives which is also another reason for using diverse metals. I formerly had a GM and GM+ smith on the Catskills OSI shard for almost 3 years, and the magical potential for valorite, along with its high resistances, a smith with Runic hammers was a very valuable character to have. Unfortunately my warrior didn't fair so well.
You can edit the resistance caps, but with the way the new combat system works, if you allow players to have a 100 resistance, they will only take 1 point of damage from sources of that damage type.
This also isn't really a server support question, by the way, but it is a rather debatable subject. I think there are similar posts on the general discussion forums.
-Kriggle-
|