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Some really good points here. I back practically everything said.

I find the alignments really truly puzzling too. I think there should be much greater variation in familiar alignments.

I don't think your combat suggestions are necessary, but not objectionable either. I'm content to use them solely as an RP tool, or whatever other uses the DMs have devised for them. However, I feel I'm prevented from doing this because the legalities surrounding familiars has not been made clear, so I just don't bother.

If it was clearer on how we are meant to use familiars, and how they fit into Sanctuary's legal system, it'd make things much easier.

Maybe I've just missed the information from somewhere?

Perhaps remove the xp cost and make the familiar only last 3/rounds per caster level would be nicer.

I think that would make the RP use for familiars null and void.

That's too high a price to pay for me.

What roleplay use? as far as I know a good percentage of tem can't talk and I'd always assume any animal is moving about and making noises without emotes to tell me as such.

I'm not sure, but I think I was told familiars can learn one language. It may very well be that that's only certain familiars, but even if they cannot speak at all, there is still infinite RP potential.

I don't think many people would consider their characters unplayable with zero roleplay use if say, their tongue was cut out.

I like familliars as is. I think they're fine- maybe have less mephits but keep the ooze mephit!

I've used familliars quite a bit and I must say they are excellent RP tools for the right kind of character. You have to be a bit inventive - yet the fact that you get to RP a whole personality on another critter is awesome to me. I'm constantly possessing unpossessing my familliar to come up with emotes and to better control him. Infact, much of one of my characters is based around him finding his familliar.

To further rile things, I even played a faction character that used his Blaze hound to deliver notes to people. To see a blazehound with a Tigereye symbol walking through upper to drop off a note is something that people talk about. (Yes, I was waiting for the sucker foolish enough to attack it so I could go to him an uh - hurt him badly)

In combat I've used familliars a couple of times when my character's out of spells and I get bored. I usually possess the familliar and use it as a flanker - usually to good success. I've also been tinkering with the idea of being able to cast mage armor + endurance on a familliar, I believe this would make some familiars into decent flankers.

I am in agreement that the experience penalty for familiar/companion loss is too steep.

I'm also in agreement that we have too many mephit types, although there is a decent variety alignment-wise.

Familiars are intended to be spies, messengers, RP tools, and so on.

The death of a familiar or an animal companion now results in (150 + 50/level) XP being lost, rather than 200/level, along with the master taking 1d6 damage (or being reduced to 1hp, whichever is less lethal).