Developers Corner

I have been thinking about this and figured I would give it a shot. I believe the new MMORPGs should use both time and experience when leveling a character. Kinda like mixing Eves model time with standard exp leveling.

Proposal: Using a similar WOW level experience set.

Characters level 1-15 no time limit.

Characters level 16-20 Limit 2 levels per day.

Character levels 20-30 Limit 1 level per day.

Character level 30-40 Limit 1 level per day.

Character  level 41-50 Limit 1 levl per 2 days.

Character level 51-60 Limit 1 level per 3 days.

Character level 61-69 Limit 1 level per 4 days.

Character level 70 limit 1 level 8 days.

Above is just a guideline. Up to the developers how they would wish to mix this in.As well as set a time frame.

The system is set up so you can acquire the experience to level up. But cannot level up till the time requirement is fulfilled.

What this does. It keeps a standard of control and keep potential gold farmers and other types of RMM types from getting too big of a advantage in the mmo market.

Makes it possible to have players of all levels  for longer periods of time. One of the drawbacks in MMORPGs is some of the really good games no longer have a new player base. Due to a lack of players in starting and mid level areas.

Keeps a system in place where a fast leveler cannot take advantage of lower level players due to speed the fast leveling.. Keeps some exploitive behavior from occurring.

Makes alts a viable option. In some games players cap out and only play that one character. They eventually get bored and un-sub.

Hardcore players can still be hardcore. They will just have more characters at a higher level than a casual player.

PART II: As a character levels a time limit may or can be incorporated into skills,perks ect or skills/perks about to be learned. This opens a whole new set of options. giving more direct control over characters and or template design.

While at a certain level multiple skills may be learnable. Only one skill can be in training or "school". After it is complete the player may choose a new skill from that level or choose a skill for his or her new level if applicable.

Also time limits may be given so if a player wants to learn a specific skill he has a certain time frame in which to do it. Or that skill is permanently lost til he is cap level. In the example above "Level 70". At that level he may relearn the skills he missed the first time around.

Skills ect can be  a quest, taught from a trainer or made. However you want to do it.

Hope you guys liked my ideas.

P.S I also forgot to add that it would help with a economy. Would stabilize a economy due to progressive time limits.

That wouldn't be bad at all, originally I thought this would drive away people who like to power level, but...

Since you gain levels after the time requirement and XP requirements are met, you could potentially do a lot of work on one day and gain so much XP that you don't have to play the next day but gain levels anyway, or keep powerleveling and take a vacation to gain your last few levels, correct?

But I guess the linchpin of the system is how many days it would take to fully level up, but overall this system does not seem bad at all for a level based game, it would make leveling much less of a race to the top I think.

Originally posted by CactusmanX

That wouldn't be bad at all, originally I thought this would drive away people who like to power level, but...

Since you gain levels after the time requirement and XP requirements are met, you could potentially do a lot of work on one day and gain so much XP that you don't have to play the next day but gain levels anyway, or keep powerleveling and take a vacation to gain your last few levels, correct?

But I guess the linchpin of the system is how many days it would take to fully level up, but overall this system does not seem bad at all for a level based game, it would make leveling much less of a race to the top I think.

You are correct. You could gain all the experience, not play the character a while. comeback and have him leveled up. It gives a great excuse to play a alt while waiting your mains time out. It also works well for the casual player as whatever level requirement is needed to fulfill will be fulfilled. Then all the casual player has to worry about is xp.

I also wanted to add that in the part II Skill: This system would make it applicable to have specialists especially in crafting. Unlike Eve, the skill progression timetable would stay the same. Where in EVE lower tier skills Actually receive time reduction if it is set up correctly. In this system it would offer more specialization and variety to the base classes and crafting skills.

It would be hard to build a good community with a game based like that simply because it is the hard core players that make sure that there are people playing the game all the time... without them you have a ghost town. Anyhow I think in games it takes too long to level as it is adding time restrictions before you can get a level would just make that worse.  Yes it would be nice for the players that play a couple of hours a week.. but for the rest of the gamers that would be a pain to have to wait.. personally i think game progress speeds in games as it is are currently not fast enough .. i want the gamespeed cranked up to the max so while I am killing everyone the game keeps up with my hatebreed song:P  Anyhow the solution to mobs attacking noobs is zones for pvp.. that seperate between levels.. like areas that have 1 vs 1 same level .. and gradually increase levels to increase your risks and then have seperate multi combat areas as well so that all players have a place to at least hold their own no matter their combat level. Games need to have safe areas and pvp areas in order to allow for new player base. more player freedoms ftw!

Originally posted by deviliscious

It would be hard to build a good community with a game based like that simply because it is the hard core players that make sure that there are people playing the game all the time..(there are plenty of "HARD CORE" players in both EVE and WOW. I do not see this changing.In WOW raiders spend hours and days just to get one item. Level does noy play a role since they all are capped.. without them you have a ghost town. Anyhow I think in games it takes too long to level as it is adding time restrictions before you can get a level would just make that worse.(tell that to a EVE player going for a Titan! Ask one who has a Titan how long the wait was.  Yes it would be nice for the players that play a couple of hours a week.. but for the rest of the gamers that would be a pain to have to wait.. personally i think game progress speeds in games as it is are currently not fast enough .. i want the gamespeed cranked up to the max so while I am killing everyone the game keeps up with my hatebreed song:P(Shouldnt you be playing a FPS online. May be more your style.  Anyhow the solution to mobs attacking noobs is zones for pvp.. that seperate between levels.. like areas that have 1 vs 1 same level .. and gradually increase levels to increase your risks and then have seperate multi combat areas as well so that all players have a place to at least hold their own no matter their combat level.(Warhammer Online is attempting this. Im not in beta so would not know how its working out) Games need to have safe areas and pvp areas in order to allow for new player base. more player freedoms ftw!(These already exist in most mmorpgs. If you want more freedom to level then do not play on a pvp server or pvp based game.

You sound like someone  who plays Runescape!

Silly idea.

Why would you be time limited?

Why limit someone who wants to level?

Levels and grind are there to keep us playing and paying subscription anyway. Why even prolong that?

Why not focus on content? I don't mind being max level when there is something to do at that level.

If there is no or little content I don't wanna pay for the game anymore. Why would I wait days and days to get to max level and find out that there is nothing more to do and I had just spent months to find that out?

In bigger games where there is a lot of content that is skipped when leveling quickly most people make alts anyway.

That is one of the reasons I don't like level based games. Make them skill based where every skill can be trained by using it. You won't get to max skills any soon there.

Originally posted by xpowderx

Originally posted by deviliscious

It would be hard to build a good community with a game based like that simply because it is the hard core players that make sure that there are people playing the game all the time..(there are plenty of "HARD CORE" players in both EVE and WOW. I do not see this changing.In WOW raiders spend hours and days just to get one item. Level does noy play a role since they all are capped.

I have played WOW.. not eve yet,  but it is more gear based... so the amount of time that you actually play does play a role, alot of hardcore players are level junkies, and do not care as much about gear based games.. and just to let ya know not everyone playing the game is happy with everything about it. I play lots of games I do not thoroughly enjoy simply because my real friends play them. 

. without them you have a ghost town. Anyhow I think in games it takes too long to level as it is adding time restrictions before you can get a level would just make that worse.(tell that to a EVE player going for a Titan! Ask one who has a Titan how long the wait was. 

Making you wait for anything in a game simply by adding time restrictions is bad.. waiting is boring not challenging or fun.

 Yes it would be nice for the players that play a couple of hours a week.. but for the rest of the gamers that would be a pain to have to wait.. personally i think game progress speeds in games as it is are currently not fast enough .. i want the gamespeed cranked up to the max so while I am killing everyone the game keeps up with my hatebreed song:P

(Shouldnt you be playing a FPS online. May be more your style. 

Your not the boss of me .. I play lots of games .. it is very hard to find ones that can keep up to speed.

 Anyhow the solution to mobs attacking noobs is zones for pvp.. that seperate between levels.. like areas that have 1 vs 1 same level .. and gradually increase levels to increase your risks and then have seperate multi combat areas as well so that all players have a place to at least hold their own no matter their combat level.(Warhammer Online is attempting this. Im not in beta so would not know how its working out) Games need to have safe areas and pvp areas in order to allow for new player base. more player freedoms ftw!(These already exist in most mmorpgs. If you want more freedom to level then do not play on a pvp server or pvp based game.

instead of pvp  servers .. areas for pvp on any server just desicnated areas for it, I enjoy leveling on players yes but My friends like to do other things and I hate having to change servers instead of just being able to kill someone .. go somewhere else in same map and go help them .. then go back to kiling people. Why would you want to be playing 2 different games to accomplish this? If devs would just get it right and make one game that suits all needs .. problem solved.

You sound like someone  who plays Runescape!

LMAO... Yes I have played the game .. but so has everyone. I hate that game omg that is a prime example of a game that makes you wait for everything to happen. All that game is is a bunch of waiting .. waiting for ores to spawn trees to grow.. With all the waiting for things to happen that might be a game you like. I don't have the time or patience to play a game that is all about waiting. blah. Actually I am currently playing guild wars.. and no it is not level based, or gear based .. It has great pvp though.. in designated areas. Anyhow The only problem with guild wars is there is not much else to do other than quests or battles.. so I only come on when we have a  fight and friends are on. The reason I do not play it as much as I would like is a common problem with non level based games.. what is the point? all your goals are met. what else is there to do?

I have an approach in my game, where characters get 8 points per day.  These points can be used in a number of ways.  They can be used to perform special moves in combat.  For crafters, they can be spent to  try to improve their skills in various ways.

For classes such as mages, they might start the game at a university and use those points towards classes and assignments.  During their lifetime, they might discover magic books which they would love to study and perform research from.  These points can be spent to advance those areas.  BTW, those are the only ways to those specific skills.

Using a fixed limited number of points, you give casuals a chance to advance some areas of their characters at the same rate as the hardcore players.