[MUD-Dev] New Skill System

[Phil O'Donnell]

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Greetings

I have been reading this discssion of ability measurment with interest
for some time, and I have a system of my own to propose. Basically, it
uses the classless, raceless system of giving points to abilities as
you complete certain actions, and using these points to determine how
skilled a character is in a certain ability. However, my twist on it,
is that, withut practice, you abilities actually decrease over
time. How much they decrease would be a function of how skilled you
are. The learning curve stipulates that learning a skill is easy when
you start, but as you get more advanced, it take more and more
practice to gain anything. Inversely, it is easy to forget advanced
knowledge, but difficult to forget the basics (like how to ride the
bike). To be very advanced in a skill, it is necessary to practice it
daily, lest you forget it

Ok, lets get some numbers. Say a skill is from 0-1000pts. Lets look at
2 characters (Alfred, skill of 5, and Bill, skill of 900). Under my
rules, Alfred might gain 1pt next time the skill is used, while Bill
would only gain 0.1pt (numbers are approximate). This is a familiar
concept to most people.

Now for the extra stuff. For every real-hour that Alfred does not use
his skill, his skill is _decreased_ by .01 so in 100 real-hours of
existence (not playing time, as my characters are always playing) his
skill will drop by 1pt. Bill, on the other hand, would loose his skill
at 0.1pt per real-hour of inactivity. So in 10 real-hours, he would
have lost 1pt.

My Point: To maintain his position, Bill would have to practice his
skill once an hour, while Alfred only has to practice it every 10
hours.

The end result is that it is difficult to become a master, you have to
play constantly, not just for a long time, and it is very difficult to
become a master at more than one thing, due to the time constraints.

Another possibility is a "skill point pool" from which all points come
and go. When you gain a skill point, one point comes out of the
pool. When you lose a point, one gets added back in. The skill pool
only has so many points in it, so at a certain point in your
development, the only way to gain more skill points is to become less
skilled at another skill. Additions to the pool could also be another
reward.

Thoughts, Comments,
Philip O'Donnell
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