[MUD-Dev] Playing catch-up with levels

[cruise]

Stephen Routledge wrote:

> There will always be people searching for the "ultimate"
> combination of skills under such an open ended system though.  No
> matter how well something is balanced there is always an optimal
> character build that is more effective, in terms of whatever
> measure of performance you wish to use, than anything else.  Over
> the course of a games life this becomes even more pronounced as
> people become more familiar with the mechanics and learn to
> min/max in the best way possible.

True enough.

> I understand that there will always be people who deliberately
> choose to play characters who are quirky or unique (or realistic?)
> at the expense of raw power and effectiveness but more often than
> not the average player just wants something that is "good".  They
> don't want to play something that makes their game experience
> overly difficult or perhaps ends up relegating them to a minor
> niche within the world.

I'm not convinced that either of those two outcomes are inevitable
if a player doesn't take the most "efficient" route. It all depends
on how players are rewarded, or what is condsidered "succeeding",
hence the original discussion about level progression...

> In a way providing a class selection tells the player "here is a
> type of character that fulfills a definite role we have created in
> game".  You can also use it to stop any one character being overly
> effective in multiple areas and removing the need for a more
> diverse population.  I'm not sure whether forced diversity is good
> but I would arguably find that more interesting.

Looking at the current MMORPG's available, have any of them actually
stopped this min/maxing? Unless you remove all choice apart from the
initial class selection, there will always be "optimal" choices, as
you said yourself. While you can never hope to balance /every/
choice in an open skill system, if you can't balance it enough to
create at least as many viable options as most RPG classes then it's
doubtful you'll manage any better within those classes.

Take the five skill divisions I mentioned before, for
example. Certainly, I could simply have five classes for warrior,
thief, mage, leader and crafter. But the three "combat" classes have
a "rocks,paper,scissors" relationship, so mixed groups are needed to
be "successful" for your given definition of success. Leader's give
big bonuses to those grouped with them, and crafters supply the
vital equipment.

While there may well be preferred combinations within those
skill-sets, all of them are needed, and so each will be
represented. Without preventing those who wish to experiment from
doing so.

--
[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org ]
   "quantam sufficit"
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