[MUD-Dev] Challenging the grind - take 2

[Vincent Archer]

In my previous topic, I was challenging the grinding model. Achiever
based MUD/MMOs have taught people to "grind" XP, because all XP was
interchangeable. And thus, the level of a character was not a good
indicator of the competency of the character/player. Two otherwise
equivalent characters could be a veteran player able to win in the
most challenging situations, while the other was a clueless player
that was a handicap in a group.

All that the level gave you as an indication was the time the player
had spent in game.

But why is grinding XP so tempting? What could tempt players to do
something else besides grinding. You need an incentive to do so. I
was suggesting the removal of XP, which made grinding useless, but
as people in this list suggested, there are many people who do
prefer to grind.

It used to be that there would be two relatively orthogonal axes of
progression for a character in a MUD/MMO.

Level (XP grind) and equipment (questing, crafting, dungeon crawls).

Progression in each of those axes would increase your character's
power, making it able to tackle new content.

Games like Ultima Online had light coupling between equipment and
level.  You couldn't use some armors unless you had high enough
stats, which meant you had gotten enough "xp" (in the form of random
chances) to get your skills and stats. Otherwise, you could use
pretty much anything if you managed to get it, even thru trade or
gifts.

Everquest, and its first two expansions, had almost no
correlation. If you could get the piece of equipment, then you could
use it. In fact, level 1 characters could initially get into the
outer planes, and grab "NODROP" (or rather NOTRADE) equipment
intended for the maxed characters.

That gave the rise to the "twink" syndrome decried by so many
people.  Level 5 characters, geared with equipment that required
level 50 characters to obtain, were able to kill with ease content
intended for a level 10 character and obtain a disproprotionate
amount of XP compared to their level. And the feeling of jealousy of
other level 5 characters that didn't had big friends/deep pockets to
get the twink's equipment.

Since then, almost every single MMO used the level requirement
system. Each piece of equipment gets slapped with level indicator,
which reflects the level range where such a piece can be obtained by
a character, and characters below the indicated level are either
prevented from being able to equip the item, or see a lesser effect
"equivalent to the correct-level equipment".

Sometimes, it's a "skill requirement", but that ends up almost
always to mean the same thing, because of a very strong correlation
between possible skill level and overall level.

This is has caused games to change. And notably, to create an
"expected equipment" set at each level. A level N character is
assumed to have at least all of its equipment of level N-M or
better.

Where previously, you could progress in two independent ways, one
using XP and level increase, and one chasing equipment and quests,
now you don't. The game doesn't assume you have a given level for an
encounter, and additional equipment makes the encounter easier, it
is designed for a given level and equipment.

And, if the equipment is expected, it must be easy to get during
your "normal" adventuring. As the previous thread said, most of the
"normal adventuring" is spend grinding XP, so you get your equipment
during XP grind - you don't have to slow down your XP intake, you'll
get some equipment. Maybe not the very best equipment... but, with
level restriction, the very best equipment for your level will be
made obsolete by the average equipment of the next level block, and
by the lowest common equipment of the level block after that.

The incentive to do something other than grinding XP is thus
lessened.

Where you used to have two independent axes of progression, and you
could choose to spend your time "profitably" on one of the other,
modern games have two different *modes* of progression.

In the first mode, you gain levels (and the expected equipment that
comes with it). Then, once you reach max level, you start gaining
equipment instead. You don't have much of a choice; you grind to get
to max, then stuff. Trying to get equipment before max level is an
exercice in futility, as you can easily level with the available
equipment, and anything you get before gets obsoleted as you near
the maximum level.

And the game ends poorer because of this.

Not only that, but the game contents gets obsoleted. At any time you
raise the maximum level of players, you make a tier of equipment
obsolete, and the content that provided it undesirable.  In
Everquest, at level 60, you would first pick some armor from some
easier dungeons, then go into Kael Drakkel to get some quest armor,
then to Temple of Veeshan for better armor, then in Temple of
Ssraeshza for better stuff, and so on.

When the Planes of Power expansion was released and the level 65
introduced, Kael and a large part of the Veeshan's equipment became
obsolete. There was single group stuff for level 65 characters that
gave you comparable equipment that used to take raids to get. Not
all, but some. ToV became semi desert.

With the Omens of War expansion, and its level 70 level cap, new
one-group encounters have made the Ssraeshza equipment obsolete or
nearly so. SSRA is becoming empty now as well. Because the best
equipment of 2 level blocks ago became obsoleted by average
equipment of the previous level block, and is now made obsolete by
basic equipment of the new level block.

As long as you couple the "level" and "minimum expected equipment"
together, you cannot escape this infernal machine that makes your
carefully designed content of 2 years ago completely useless, even
to players who never experienced it. That, or you do not raise your
level cap. Ever.

Yet, if you ask a designer to go away from level requirements (or
skill requirements, which are exactly the same thing, under a thin
disguise, because your skills are capped by your level), they
immediately shy away. Letting level 1 character equip your level 50
gloves is a no-no today.

That is because the game challenges you according to your
character's power, while it rewards you according to your
character's *level*.  If you do not have a strong correlation
between the two, then a character that increases his power while he
doesn't increase his level is seen as somehow cheating. He's getting
lesser challenges, and/or bigger rewards. Jealousy rears its ugly
head.

So it's so much easier to strongly couple equipment and level at
first, and design your challenges for a given power, knowing your
characters will not vary much in power at that level. While your
level is not capped, you reward in level according to your power,
i.e. your level. When your level is capped, you reward in equipment
according to your power, i.e. your equipment, seeing as you're all
at the same level.

What would be required to break away from this little trap, which
makes games more linear and encourages players to grind XP?

The simple answer is to make the game gives out rewards according to
a character's power, not level. If you do so, then you no longer
need artificial level limits. You do not need to couple equipment
and level. If a "twinked" level 5 character kills level 10 content
with the same ease as a level 5 character, then he gets as much XP
as a level 5 character would. And not because of an XP cap, which
discourages the level 5 character from attempting something more
challenging, as the cut would be the same regardless of power.

Of course, that also requires you to know better your own game
system. You need to be able to gauge the impact of any given piece
of equipment on the power of the character.

It also means that the game can inform other players of a
character's real power. In Everquest, one level 70 warrior is not
the equal of another level 70 warrior, if one is decked with last
expansion's bazaar gear, and the other has a full complement of the
top raiding gear. Yet, when you try to find a group, the only
indicator you have is the level. You need to ask about the other axe
of progression to figure out if the character will be able to
sustain the challenges you're aiming for - or is going to be bored
to tears by a lesser challenge (EQ gets more complicated, as there's
a 3rd axis of progression, the Alternate XP).

The biggest trick is the calculation of power from level and
equipment. As I said, you need to fully understand your game system
to make an accurate calculation, so that level 50/power 60 people
are really able to tackle about the same challenges as level
40/power 60 ones. The level 40 with more stuff should get good XP to
progress, the level 50 with no stuff should get good stuff to
progress, and, if you've designed it right, then they both progress
toward power 61 at the same speed, just from different axes.

But if you can do so, then you really have multiple ways of playing
the game. If equipment is no longer a given, and back to being a
bonus, then you have a choice between the grind and the questing for
better stuff. And last year's content is no longer obsolete. Old and
well known, maybe. But still interesting to all the newcomers,
because it is an axis of progression.

Maybe even if that content can be done by a naked maxed level
character.

--
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer at frmug.org

All men are mortal.  Socrates was mortal.  Therefore, all men are Socrates.
							(Woody Allen)
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