[MUD-Dev] Exponential experience points and levels

[zgj22 at drexel.edu]

From: mike stedman <ravuya at icarusindie.com>
> On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 22:36:34 +0000 (GMT)
> zgj22 at drexel.edu wrote:

>> A possibly better solution would be to use an algorithm similar
>> to the one that Wizards/the DCI uses for their Magic: The
>> Gathering tournament rankings [1]. This algorithm is designed to
>> let a player's ranking change based on the ranking of those they
>> fight.

> A number of online games for consoles nowadays (notably SOCOM II)
> use the system designed for chess tournaments: beating a "grand
> master" as a newbie will net you a ton of points whereas beating a
> newbie as a grandmaster will net you barely any points.

As I understand it, the DCI Ranking System is very similar to what
you just described. The main problem I see with using a system that
is similar to the one I detailed in my last e-mail is that
eventually the powergamers/high-level characters will run out of
content to explore/achieve (This, I know, is a problem in all
Commercial MUDs/Massives) much faster than usual, if they figure out
how to beat the monsters provided quickly (i.e. it makes farming a
whole lot easier, granted high-level characters).

> I wouldn't like "losing" experience; the player shouldn't be
> penalized for doing something that they were rewarded for
> previously.

Possibly, but many MMOs already do this, when they give players an
XP penalty on death. City of Heroes being the most recent example
that comes to mind. It may be possible to, instead of giving a
hard-core reduction of XP, to just levy a penalty based upon your
level and the level of what beat you. Another example would be to
give a stat decrease (ala death points in Horizons), item damage
(ala what we have heard about EQ2), etc based upon that ratio
instead.

Zachary Jensen
GPG Public Key:
http://search.keyserver.net (Key ID 0238F90D)
http://www.cs.drexel.edu/~zgj22/
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