[MUD-Dev2] no levels / temporary levels

[cruise]

Thus spake Timothy Dang...
> I'm wondering how to get advantages somewhat like this without the
> level-advancement model. Here's one possibility I've come up with,
> mostly thinking of it as a minimal tweak on the successful model:
> 
> *** Keep most of the mechanics of levels, and keep the game world
> designed as if there are levels. But instead of making levels inherent
> to the PC, make them temporary powers granted by (say) drinking
> potions.
> 
> Actually, that's pretty much it; the rest is details. Instead of
> awarding XP, the game would award either potions, the ingredients to
> make potions, or the cash to buy potions from NPCs. Exponential
> advancement could come from making 2 level-2 potions equivalent to a
> level-3 potion, 2 level-3 potions to a level-4 potion, etc.
> 
> So, now I'm wondering if some variation on this idea could work,
> keeping the successful part of levels while getting rid of the
> weirdness which character advancement causes.
> 
> I can see some obvious problems with it:
> 
> a) It makes twinking, whether in-game or by RMT, a piece of cake.

Why is that a problem? If you really need to limit it, make higher level 
potions actually poisonous until lower level ones have been ingested a 
certain number of times.

> b) It's hard to match with the learning-curve, since it would probably
> be very awkward to have someone gain entirely new abilities for each
> potion they drink.

Different potions give different abilities? I can see quite a fun game 
in just mixing and matching various ingerdients to create the abilities 
you want...with looted or bought potions only providing basic, "core" 
abilities. You learn as you learn to mix increasingly more convoluted 
potions and move away from the common skills.

> c) Similarly, it reduces the effect of levels->specialization if
> players can choose their abilities each time they drink a potion.

Depends - what if a player decides they really don't like the "class" 
they've been using up until now? Being able to change class at any time 
seems like a benefit to me - people get bored, game balance is adjusted, 
etc.

The more I think about this, the more it appeals. Ingredients that 
provide highly sought after abilities will be naturally rarer/more 
valuable, leading to players using a wider range of abilities while they 
try to get that sought after ingredient. It decouples equipment from 
ability, allowing more player customisability. It makes PvP far more 
interesting, as you can never tell what abilities a character will have, 
even if you meet the same one several times.