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Old 07-18-2010, 10:58 AM   #24
dentin
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Home MUD: Alter Aeon
Posts: 245
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Re: Avoiding mistakes in char gen/early game

I first encountered permanent damage to your character based on leveling choices on Hidden worlds; not only were practices dependent on wisdom, but in order to maximize hitpoints and mana you had to wear max stat and -hp/-mana equipment when leveling. The difference between using full leveling equipment and not made the difference between 650/325 and 800/400 hp/mana. As part of the Alaska crew, we had a common storage char with pretty close to the best 'legal' leveling equipment on the game. Most other players did not, and it showed.

When I started Alter Aeon, I kept the same system, largely because I didn't know any better. Over time, I realized my game wasn't fun for me; I always felt the need to maximize my levels, which was time consuming and irritating. I also started to realize that the leveling system was grossly unfair to newbies. Once leveled incorrectly, your character was permanently damaged.

My solution to this has been to make stat gain from leveling either constant or parametric. Hitpoints, mana, and movement are parametric, in that they are a function of your instantaneous levels and stats. Number of practices per level is a constant.

In addition to this, pretty much everything is 'fixable' if you screw it up. Changing from primary mage to primary thief is possible, it's just expensive. Learning the wrong skills and spells, or training stats you don't need, is irritating and may hinder you in the short term, but it's always possible to get the practices you need to fix it.

This kind of 'forgiving with penalties' environment seems to work pretty well. It discourages people from arbitrarily changing everything on a whim, but allows a reasonable exit from bad decisions. It's also made the game a lot more fun for me to personally play, as I no longer have to waste my time in order to level optimally. I just level whenever I want, wherever I want, content in the knowledge that when and where makes no difference in the end.

-dentin
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