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

[Vincent Archer]

According to Jarod Reid:
> Travis Casey wrote:
> > ... or get someone else to level their characters for them, or help
> > them level.  If you want to lock lesser-skilled players out of higher
> > levels, you'd need to either allow losing levels (so that poor play of
> > a high-level character would cause it to become lower level), or
> > eliminate character levels entirely and make the game rely purely on
> > player skill (so that in order to handle difficult areas, you have to
> > have the skill to do it yourself.)

One of the two specific ideas that subtended the original proposition
is that levels serve a specific purpose in level-based MMOs. A level
is a simple indicator of the ability of a character to tackle certain
challenge. If I intend to get into the Sunken Temple in World of
Warcraft, I will be seeking level 50 characters (or above).

Right now, games achieve this in a specific way: a level N gives
you X stamina, Y mana and Z attack power, which is required to be able
to survive against a level N monster. Getting a level N enables you
to defeat the monster.

The purpose of the achievement system is primarily to operate in
reverse. You don't go thru a level N dungeon because you're level N,
you become level N because you demonstrated being able to go thru the
level N dungeon.

(or rather, an increasingly complex set of tasks. A level 50 character
 is expected to know where the Sunken Temple is, know the weaknesses
 of level 50 monsters, what tactics are required for the various boss
 and the order of statues to summon the troll bberserke. In WoW,
 a level 50 character has only demonstrated he was able to keep on
 killing stuff for at least N hours)

> >> However, no player can ever accuse your game to encourage grind
> >> (repeating mindlessly the easiest task you can find for your level)
> >> or call it a treadmill, if the requirements for real skills keep
> >> changing as you level.
> >
> > Unless you really can come up with hundreds of unique tasks, they
> > certainly can.  People complain now about the repetitiveness of quests
> > all the time.

And that's the advantage of fungible XP. If you cannot come with enough
varied challenges, you can use to cop out of "repeat this action X
times, and you can go 'ding'!"

> What this looks like to me is a good idea on paper, but a pain to
> implement due to the need to create achievements for every level.

It is. Achievements are almost equivalent to xp, except for one
tiny little difference: you get XP for doing something only once.
After you've done it, you never ever again gain xp. So, you do have
to come with enough different actions to fill the path from level 1
to... whatever level you can figure.

Of course, you have categories of actions that are similar. Visiting
a place is visiting a place, there's a whole world (well, there
should be) full of places to visit. But visiting a starting city
is a level 3 achievement, while finding Mt Doom is level 40, and
getting to the Chasm of Destiny is level 45.

-- 
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer at frmug.org

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