[MUD-Dev] variable difficulty levels (was: ghost mode)

[Corey Crawford]

Wednesday, September 10, 2003, 3:18:49 PM, Mike Shaver wrote:

> Is a "how hard do I want this game to be?" knob really so
> repellent a concept in the MMO space?

While I haven't seen this implemented in any current MMORPGs (other
than picking a difficulty level for autogenerated missions), I have
seen this implemented in MUDs.

Avatar (http://www.outland.org/) uses races to determine how hard it
is to level. Selecting a Gargoyle (for example) takes 2-3 times the
normal amount of exp to level. The trade off comes in with racial
bonuses; these include higher than average stats as well as racial
spells and skills (stone skin and bonus barehand attacks, if I
remember right).

There could be plenty of ways to reflect difficulty in an
achievement MMORPG. Most of the ones that come to mind are based on
"what you get when you level". If your difficulty level is set high
you get more stat/skill/spell/whatever points when you actually do
level. If you set it low, then you level faster but have a less
powerful character in the end.

Would this be appealing?

This might interest those who wish to keep up with their friends but
are unable to spend the same amount of time as them. At the same
time, the hardcore achievers will be able to pick the most difficult
setting and create a more powerful character for their efforts.

There are many things a difficulty setting could affect:

  - Amount of damage an NPC can inflict
  - Amount of damage you can inflict on an NPC
  - Power of spells and skills (though usually tied to stats)
  - Death penalty

(And I'm sure there are more, but I have to get back to work).

Obviously, there has to be some give and take for each of these.

So, it isn't completely unheard of, but I would like to see a true
implementation of variable difficulty levels.

--
Corey Crawford
ccrawford at seventh dot net
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev