[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point...

[John Buehler]

Caliban Darklock writes:

> On 8/2/07, John Arras <johnarras at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > What if you did this as an ELO system where the monsters or tasks
> > are given a dynamic level and your gain/loss is based on this?
> 
> To get just a little insane...
> 
> What if the level and stats of a monster were dynamically scaled to the
> player?

Let's go really bonkers and remove adjustable levels (literally removing the traditional experience point).  Assign traits to each race or species and distribute the traits in a bell curve across the population.  Humans have X hit points ?20%.  Humans can lift Y pounds ?40%.  Humans can run at Z speed ?30%.  And so on.  Orcs, kobolds, dragons, rats, beetles, fish, trolls and deer have different traits that fall into certain ranges - and that's that.  It is the traits that define what a given thing is.

Dragons would then return to being mythic, monstrous beasts instead of farm material for enterprising groups of 6 players.  Rats would return to being vermin instead of the vicious peril of all novices leaving town.

This has all sorts of implications.

Designers don't have to worry about fending off the unintended consequences of mixing level 50s and level 1s.

Designers don't have to design encounters for every 3rd level of progression of a given class, whose skills are changing all the while.  They can design for one level, and put all their creative energies into making that one configuration as entertaining as possible.  Come up with a standard configuration that multiple games can glom onto and suddenly you can create software tools to support that standard configuration.  People will start to invest their time to build new AI to deal with that standard configuration.

Designers don't have to come up with ways of letting disparate level characters socialize.  Everyone can cooperate and compete with everyone else.

Players can use their real world expectations to predict possible dangers.  Most importantly, big animals and monsters are more dangerous than small animals and monsters.  Rabbits do NOT attack.

Griefers are both enabled and hindered.  They have a relatively powerful character right from the start, but they cannot grow in power to dominate low level characters.  Two non-griefers are usually enough to deal with a lone griefer.  Democracy in action.

I'd love it if designers would stop expending their time and talent on creating yet another leveling treadmill and instead start working on how to bring greater depth to the experience through simulations of physics, economy, behavior and so on.  I've had enough of the grade school games.  I just can't play them anymore, and I figure that creating a rather more stable world environment for the designers to work in would help immeasurably.  Level games are just too great a departure from reality.

JB