I just want to first say that I'm still stoked about having Saric in the game, and none of this is in anyway an attack on anyone. It's always good to throw a disclaimer out before I dive headlong into what is probably going to be an overly analytical train of thought.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=194612.msg9657810#msg9657810">Quote from: Wheresmycow on 01-03-2014, 01:30:55</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">What I do expect though is that teachers flat out win.  I mean, they're teachers.  So long as it holds true that teachers decisively win, I'm fine.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I agree whole heartedly with this conclusion. I know that playing a teacher could ─ and should ─ lead to the speculation that I might be biased in my own opinion. Suspecting as much is just displaying good observational skills. However, RWBY is not my first encounter with an anime based on the premise of students attending a school to learn how to fight some form of evil. I think that from the student's perspective, having teachers that they could defeat, or even provide a meaningful challenge to, would defeat the point of enrolling in the first place. This should be especially true on the first few days of class. Combat should rely just as heavily, if not more so, on experience than physical capability. And for the sake of maintaining consistency: Eric was a militiaman, but failed to warrant a second glance from Armina.<br/><br/>I've spent the last week immersing myself in different anime series for the sake of my own independent research for another project. One basic commonality that seems to be present in nearly all the series I've observed is something that I've come to refer to as main character syndrome. While the chain of events usually evolves to provide or expose some exceptional circumstance that validates their superiority, that plot point is often the pinnacle of the story arc's progression. Since this game is based on an anime, it should come as no surprise that many of the genre's tropes are beginning to manifest within our own story.<br/><br/>However, as this story has no singular<em>main</em>character, I think it is important to keep things as realistically balanced as possible through initially focusing more on the short comings of the students, rather than their strengths. This holds especially true for anything that should influence their effectiveness in combat. And while this main character element is, and should continue to be, absent amongst the teachers, their own physical, intellectual or "magical" superiority should remain intact because it serves the larger purpose of providing environmental repercussions, rather than points of plot progression in the story's arc.<br/><br/>With that being said, I don't think Armina should have an equal in combat within the school. Unless the wise old headmaster could crush her through some crazy aura manipulation or whatever ─ as he should be able to.<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=194612.msg9657728#msg9657728">Quote from: Jane Storm on 01-03-2014, 01:02:13</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">It was my intention to draw attention to his different background (and of course his size) but not to make him seem much stronger than the rest, to place the character on a pedestal. </blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><br/>Another widely abused troupe within anime ─ I use the word abused to highlight the genre's negligence, not necessarily our own ─ is that size doesn't matter. Ruby, and I'll admit this does annoy me, should not be able to pull off the feats that she does given her observable mass. It seems conservative to speculate that she would need to possess more than 1 metric ton of muscle mass to pull a Nevermore up the face of that cliff. If you want to pursue a more realistic route concerning the laws of physics, then I more than approve. However, if we do then I would think that it would have a greater impact on the point that Saric made:<br/><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=194612.msg9657755#msg9657755">Quote from: Saric on 01-03-2014, 01:11:49</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">I did make a point of establishing Karn's lack of knowledge regarding modern technology as well as his dependance on his weapons for his combat potential. For that matter he's a 'big hit' fighter so a faster, more agile combatant (namely everyone else at the school) can dance around him and wear him down as long as they don't slip up or get caught unawares. <strong>He has countered this by working on his endurance.</strong><br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/>I don't have a problem with him being a big tank arch-type (the writers of RWBY clearly reference the MMO set up for their combat oriented lore) but the effect of his armor's own weight should theoretically compound his stamina issue. I think it's good that Saric is thinking of ways to compensate for allocating as much power as he has into his defense and strength. However, I think this counter of enhancing his endurance should be something that is achieved over the course of the game, rather than being a starting attribute.<br/><br/><strong>TL:DR</strong><br/><br/>I agree that teachers should uncircumstantially best a first year student in combat. I think Saric's character concept is interesting (hey, that semblance looks vaguely familiar ;) ) but care needs to be taken so that he doesn't blatantly outshine other students. I get the fact that Karn needs to have a reason to be put in combat class alone with Armina so that he isn't left out while everyone is in Chem class. But, I don't think we need to reference a superior amount of combat competency to do so.