[MUD-Dev] Playing catch-up with levels

[Sean Howard]

"Threshold RPG" <business at threshold-rpg.com> writes:

> Furthermore, note that in your statement you said every character
> is equal from the time they start to the time they quit.

You've taken a single thing I've said out of context. When I said
that they were equal, I meant that they never leveled up, not that
they couldn't collect new skills, items, or status. You start out
doing 5 damage and having 20 hitpoints from the time you start until
the time you quit - letting other factors control your pace and
power.

If you want a really great example of this, check out Seme COM
Dungeons Druaga, a GBC game found only in Japan. It is a collectable
dungeon crawl where you definitely got more powerful through more
cards (equipment, spells, monsters, etc), but your main character
has the same starting stats for each level. I don't think there is a
deeper or more interesting rpg (or strategy) game ever made.

> An Animal Crossing character "levels up" by getting a bigger
> house, making a lot of money, collecting sets, filling up the
> museum, catching a coelacanth (yes, we played a lot of Animal
> Crossing), etc.

Exactly. Why can't you make an MMOG like that as well? I mean, AC is
practically a MMOG as is, only there can only be four
non-simultaneous players - but they can all affect the world in
meaningful way and thus affect the playing experience of the others.

> If everyone is equal forever, from beginning to end, it isn't much
> of an RPG.  ... <snip> ...  That's where you've lost ONE of the
> crucial elements of being an RPG.

If you don't feel it is an RPG, then don't make an RPG. Make a fun
game which involves all the players in a unique and interesting
way. RPGs be damned.

--
Sean Howard - www.squidi.net
Webcomic: A Modest Destiny
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