I forgot how mudflated live eq was

[fadetree]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I haven't played Live in many years. I can't comment on it directly. I can say this: Most stat improvement is little more than an illusion. The stats that actually matter, such as kill rate, tank lifespan, and such things tend to stay the same. Hitting a 1000 hit point monster for 20 is effectively the same as hitting a 100000 hit point monster for 2000. You might feel stronger because you can go back and wreck obsolete content that used to be tough....but it's still no different than going back when you're level 60 and wrecking Black Burrow.

I don't know of any of the Everquest-style online games that have figured out how to control stat inflation. Players expect upgrades with expansions so it isn't an easy problem to solve. As I understand, the problem got so bad in Warcraft that Blizzard actually had to go in and lop off some zeros off everything. Whoever eventually figures out a good solution to the inflation issue might be seen as one of the genre's next big innovators.

Danth

Implement player aging. Your character starts at a fit 20 years old, and then ages according to a mix of factors, including level, time played, and actual real world time since creation. The amount of time you've got played and the level you are at control the aging rate, and to a lesser extent the real world age does as well. Once you get to 60 years or so, your abilities start to decline. When you hit 100 you can't do jack except whittle and make fun of youngsters.

OR

lose the whole idea of levels. Nobody keeps getting more HP every level. Implement tons of skill based progressions, but they are capped. Expansions are really just expansions of the playable world, and don't have anything to do with 'hardness' of content. Implement weapon and armor breakage. Make death REALLY hurt, as in you lose some character attributes or skill levels if you die too much in too short a time. If you die every now and then, plus arrange for the highest possible level res, then you won't take much damage. But if you die over and over you'll quickly have a worthless character. Of course, no one would play except nutjobs who like their games to be tough, but...we're there already [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Swish]

That's a great idea for a new MMORPG... like wasn't there something in one of the old Phantasy Star games which had generations of characters if you played it long enough?

Also reminds me of career mode on Fight Night (boxing game)... you become the champ, take on all comers but you start to age and get fragile [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[rayeatts]

Originally Posted by fadetree [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Implement player aging. Your character starts at a fit 20 years old, and then ages according to a mix of factors, including level, time played, and actual real world time since creation. The amount of time you've got played and the level you are at control the aging rate, and to a lesser extent the real world age does as well. Once you get to 60 years or so, your abilities start to decline. When you hit 100 you can't do jack except whittle and make fun of youngsters.

OR

lose the whole idea of levels. Nobody keeps getting more HP every level. Implement tons of skill based progressions, but they are capped. Expansions are really just expansions of the playable world, and don't have anything to do with 'hardness' of content. Implement weapon and armor breakage. Make death REALLY hurt, as in you lose some character attributes or skill levels if you die too much in too short a time. If you die every now and then, plus arrange for the highest possible level res, then you won't take much damage. But if you die over and over you'll quickly have a worthless character. Of course, no one would play except nutjobs who like their games to be tough, but...we're there already [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes! Death should have big ramifications, but not so big that it pushes frustrated players out of the game. Weapons and armor should have a durability stat on them that simulates how much they've been used.

Once a piece of armor has been used by multiple characters, bought and sold numerous times, it's durability stat should be lower like for example 32 out of 100. At a rating like that it should have a % chance of totally breaking, even during combat, causing you to die.

Then players would value armor that was very durable and pay more for it. Then it would give people more opportunities to keep acquiring new armors which people would probably enjoy.

[NizmerThafen]

The Solution: An In-Game Tax.

You are required to pay tribute (tax) to your diety in the form of gear or money, pay a city tax when entering, pay a banking tax to make deposits where a % is taken regularly, and if you keep "too much" money on yourself you will be mugged by the tax officials who patrol the area. Also, if you accumulate too much In-Game wealth you have to give your best gear to the nearest Tribute-Master(s) where it will be redistributed to the lower level players after the TM takes their cut. If you don't you will be de-leveled, imprisoned, or killed (randomly).

NO one should be able to accumulate too much In-Game wealth. No one should be able to level so high. We need to even the playing field. This would solve Mudflation problems.

[Jimjam]

That is a cool idea Nizmer!

Imagine if the more wealthy you are the more likely you are to be targeted by random muggings (or, if you become super draconic in your wealth, perhaps kings will start hiring bands of adventurers to raid your stashes and so on).

[jolanar]

All of the worst expansions in EQ are when they didn't raise the level cap (excluding Velious because the game was different back in Classic/Kunark and things like raid zones weren't even a thing yet.) I don't think that's a coincidence. Mudflation is inevitable.

[anonymous666]

Originally Posted by NizmerThafen [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The Solution: An In-Game Tax.

You are required to pay tribute (tax) to your diety in the form of gear or money, pay a city tax when entering, pay a banking tax to make deposits where a % is taken regularly, and if you keep "too much" money on yourself you will be mugged by the tax officials who patrol the area. Also, if you accumulate too much In-Game wealth you have to give your best gear to the nearest Tribute-Master(s) where it will be redistributed to the lower level players after the TM takes their cut. If you don't you will be de-leveled, imprisoned, or killed (randomly).

NO one should be able to accumulate too much In-Game wealth. No one should be able to level so high. We need to even the playing field. This would solve Mudflation problems.

[Tulidian]

How about instead of having expansions simply add to the current world, they instead change the old world? Let Kelethin be overrun by Dark Elves and Orcs for an expansion and then have the Wood Elves retake it in another. Let Mistmoore be cleansed and turned into a new starting city for another race. Let Firiona Vie sink into the ocean after an epic battle, creating a new underwater zone controller by ghouls.

Adjust starting zones, mid level zones and raid content throughout the life of the game. Create new weapons and equipment that can only be acquired until that zone changes again as the lore dictates. Make the world dynamic. Make it feel like its a living, breathing entity.

[guinness]

Originally Posted by Tulidian [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How about instead of having expansions simply add to the current world, they instead change the old world? Let Kelethin be overrun by Dark Elves and Orcs for an expansion and then have the Wood Elves retake it in another. Let Mistmoore be cleansed and turned into a new starting city for another race. Let Firiona Vie sink into the ocean after an epic battle, creating a new underwater zone controller by ghouls.

Adjust starting zones, mid level zones and raid content throughout the life of the game. Create new weapons and equipment that can only be acquired until that zone changes again as the lore dictates. Make the world dynamic. Make it feel like its a living, breathing entity.

But that's so much effort! Let's just up the level cap another 5 levels and create a couple half-assed zones with the same monsters and items we've seen before but buffed 20%. We can make and ship that by the end of Q4.

[Skydash]

Oh, I love these ideas.

Item tax: use inns to log out, and charge a rent to store equipment. If you log out, after an hour(whatever time) you automatically return to last inn you stayed at, and charged a premium.

Item degradation: items should deteriorate and become completely broken. But repairable to some extent for awhile.

Skill based: instead of levels, use EXP to gain skills. EXP should be spendable on skills/hp.