Shattered Kingdoms

That's pretty much how it is already...That wouldn't do anything useful to help.

All spells that you use pre-jman to level with those classes don't require you to be in a religion to use.

... While normally I am not one to really think to reply much on the forums... I actually see the logic of Ardith's case.

But I should add that I have always felt that, in some way, the strength of a faith-dependent class's spells and power should be augmented or diminished with their strength in the faith (favor status).

The code update changed my mind on this. By the time a player gets a character to Veteran, he should have enough experience, friends, and/or patience to work the system. Even a new player probably won't make Veteran before getting this done.

It's true that seeker conversations are trite if the "seeker" is really an old hand who knows what he wants. But some newer players pick a god that doesn't really fit their character concept. (I'm thinking of Zavijah-seekers who wanted to play an impulsive/thoughtless character, or who wanted to extend the religion to grays when that was forbidden.) This gives the high priest a chance to talk them into a better fit. Also, without a huge imperative to get this done ASAP, you really can enjoy playing an undecided character for a week or three. Having characters that can be influenced also gives teachers something meaningful to do.

yeah that's a cool story and i'll let you finish, but what about the people that go 2 weeks or more waiting for an investment? there's at least one character that i've seen repeatedly on the who list with the same "seeking" title since 12/26/2015. how long is it supposed to take to get invested into a religion w/o an active high follower or high priest? this is why clergy classes should be able to pick a religion during creation.

Not if they get the hookup from someone like me.

Outside of bonanzas I've routinely leveled characters to GM in 50 hours. The only class this hurts is priests who don't get a reliable damage spell until veteran. Paladins and hellions can still GM without a religion.

Priests can't get into religions so the players get frustrated and delete. That's why there's such a shortage of a usually rich class.

I feel like there's a real shortage of High Followers as well, which is why there's such a long wait. I actually had to tell someone good luck in getting in the religion of their choice.

I know why some people dont want to have religion in Hall of creation most of the reasons revolve around newbies. Some want newbies to learn the lore before they join a faith etc. Some think that if a person cant get into a faith they are likely to get frustrated. Both of these views are correct in a way. It really comes down to the new player.
A command that could be added that might solve this issue from both sides is Devote
Help Devote
Devote [God]
This logs the time it was made similar to pray. Only it gets sent to the HF of the religion as well as Imms. Once a devote command is made there is a set time (two weeks) with active time requirement say 5 hours of play in those 2 weeks. The person gets an auto induct into the religion. This gives the HF ample time to look for or sent a note to said person. It also gives a person a semi known induction time.
Devote can then be modified for non religion classes to extend the time out to 10 -20 hours in a month of play time. The only double check on it is to make sure shamans cant use it.

Except I already have a character at the 2 week mark that has been looking to get inducted into a religion that has been played for more than 5 hours a week.

Players don't join cabals and religions for the RP. The average player does it to get access to their spells in the case of the religion and what they might think is an elite combo for the cabal. RP is secondary, or maybe even tertiary. I'm patient, but the average person is not. They'll quit if their hat falls off of their head while playing a game. They'll let real world biases affect their decisions to join a religion. Do I like the player of the High Follower? No? Then I won't join this religion.

The average player is not going to waste time with trying to get into a religion in the current state of things. A new player is probably just going to say, "this game sucks" if they roll a priest and realize it's going to take 2 weeks to a month to get into a religion of their choice, then they're going to quit.

Adjust the times, those where just times off the top of my head. If there is no HF you could make it imitate or 24 hours real time. The extended time is for those who do not require faith to cast spells.

The point of it is to try to find a middle ground where by people know induction is coming so they are going to feel less frustrated about it. It gives people who would complain as a HF you should be doing the inducting a chance to induct them before it the auto induct triggers. The other guard you would need to put in place is cross auras being able to pick the wrong faith.

With the changes that I have made recently, priests now have access to a lot more spells (including cure critical and raise dead) even without a religion. You can also now address board notes specifically to the religion and every religion member (including the HF) will be notified when they login that they have a note waiting for them on the board that you chose to use. It should be much easier to start and keep going a conversation leading to investment, including negotiating a meet-up time.

I think this is enough innovation on this topic for now.

What about flamestrike, thatd mean they could still train rather well while waiting.

Or even give them second attack at apprentice, cause by veteran they have spear of faith anyways and its nearly useless.