More on levels, was Re: [MUD-Dev] What is an RPG?

[cruise]

Byron Ellacott wrote:

> Here, I would see 'social status' as the player's social status,
> not their avatar's.  This may not be what Mike meant, but the
> player of a D&D monk is the one concerned with their level, not
> the avatar itself. I see 'social status' meaning 'has accomplished
> a bunch of stuff and is therefore worthy of respect.'  SWG badges,
> for instance, are a form of social status that is effectively
> invisible to the avatar (as is the SWG combat level) but is[1] a
> way to see how accomplished a character is.

This struck me when I decided I wanted no classes or levels in my
MUD. People still need something to mark their progression by. So I
use fame. Accomplishing quests makes you famous. Including
crafting. You can have zero combat skills, and the highest fame
rating in the MUD, if you work harder. You'll just be a famous
crafter. And ti means you'll get "higher-level" crafting missions
(as the type of quest is based on your skills).

> However, the fact that the 15th level wizard is more personally
> powerful than his 10th level fighter friend means they cannot
> group.  If the wizard is advancing faster, or started sooner, the
> fighter is excluded /by game mechanics/ from his circle of
> friends.  Levels which indicate achievement are not a problem, or
> at least, not the problem I think we're discussing.  Levels which
> introduce wide power differences, are.

Agreed. Famous (within the game world) players can team with new
players without issue - that's the nice thing about achievement - it
doesn't become unbalancing teaming differing levels of noteriety.

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