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After perusing the entirety of the magecraft recipe list for things I want to torture people with, I've noticed that the cost/benefit of most of these items weigh heavy on the cost side, for a very short benefit. There are some insanely useful items there, but unfortunately a good majority of them decay within less than 8 IC days, making the costs a little hefty.

Examples of things I feel could use a buff:

Boots of Airwalking (require a specific pair of boots, spiderweb thread, and birds wings. Decay in 4 IC days and are obviously magical)

Anklets of Gender Change (only last for eight IC days, or roughly four hours. But for the expensive silver mirror cost, it might be balanced. It would be great if it were a full eight RL hours though, which would give you the sex change for a whole day of RP)

Ice Dagger (Lasts 4 IC days. 4 days! That's two hours, innit? Not nearly enough time to kill somebody.)

Tanios's Shackles (Again, four days. While inherently mega useful, when you consider that a good RP scene ((especially one where you are taking somebody hostage for kinky sex torture)) usually lasts about 2-4 hours, it becomes infinitely less useful for prolonged captivity. Then again, it's pretty cheap to make. Like ridiculous cheap.)

Armor of Warding (I'm hesitant to add this to the list, but again, a decent RP scene takes about 2-4 hours - and if you're a villain fighting a group of do-gooders you can go ahead and bet on 4 because of the OOC back and forth of people not wanting to cut you some slack.

So, I stayed away from potion, because those are pretty OP to begin with (especially laced or used in an STP/with RPA), but this is my honest list of things I would probably never make because I just don't want to take the time to if it's going to decay in about two hours. Magic should take some careful planning, but that might be asking a bit too much, and a detriment to RP as a whole.

Thoughts? Opinions?

I will point out one thing Leech:

1 IC day = 6 RL hours.

Even given the correct time periods, I think he's right.

When I designed magecraft it was one of the first new crafts. I had very little idea how it would be in play. But the truth is the costs are insanely high and the decays insanely fast, especially considering how convoluted and difficult many of the recipes are.

The anklet is a good example - that costs at least 200 silver minimum and then goes away in 2 RL days when it doesn't even change your identity via disguise (i.e., code sex changes, but people still remember you). I know the remember part will be fixed when disguise comes in, but even then, yow.

Magecraft is a good example of how different things feel when created staff-side vs. experienced player-side. I'm sorry to admit it but I do think I screwed up costs/decays, given the limited utility of most of the items, and the system should be more lenient. Look at potions: half a dozen ingredients each and last for an IRL week after making. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

I don't know where I got 4 hours 2 IC days. It must have been during one of my fever comas, thinking 'Hey! That makes sense!'

Edit: In my defense, I did get the ratio right! Kinda! Roughly 1/2 =P

Could I make a suggestion?

Perhaps most magecrafted items should not decay at all. Mages love to hoard, and typically on TI the big risk for these items has been in being unable to dispose of them safely.

A much stronger/longer version of the restraints would be very nice too.

Also:

At the very least, it seems like these should be extended, or decay removed. I'll have Temi review them and ensure nothing decays faster than an OOC week at minimum, and I'll discuss the dangers of stockpiling if we remove decay. As it is, we've removed decay from chandlery and herbalism, so perhaps we ought to here also.