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General Discussion /
« on: September 01, 2005, 09:31:21 pm »
It is a fallacy to think that mastering one skill should make it any harder to master another. Truely mastering any should (and I believe, will) take an absurd ammount of time, anyway, and mastering more than one would naturally take a proportionally greater ammount of time, no more (this is an important issue I will get into later). In fact, the practice of some skills should augment that of others, realistically. For example, a weaponsmith who is also a swordsman would more quickly learn what qualities are desirable in a sword, and what techniques will produce those qualities. D&D has come to reflect this through a \"synergy bonus,\" whereby, if you have a certain number of ranks in a given skill, it will suppliment your performance with another skill by adding a predetermined bonus to each use of it.
It is also unreasonable to say that \"roleplaying\" implies a lack of diversity within the individual, to be replaced by diversification within a group of specialized individuals. \"Over-specialize, and you breed in weakness.\" Not everyone\'s life goal is to be the absolute best at one thing and one thing only. And for those who don\'t, it is only natural that they will master their more diverse interests, eventually, although their progress in any one area will likely be much slower than that of a more dedicated individual. This is already the case in PS. Roleplaying does not mean you are forced to rely on others for everything that is not your \"specialty.\" I do, however, agree with the idea of \"hidden numbers.\" I should not be able to pick up a weapon and give you a number or two to explain how effective it will be in battle. Oh, and I would expect high-quality weapons to be easier to wield, not more difficult. A weapon quite different (and perhaps simply better by virtue of the physics behind it) from others encountered would be more difficult to wield. D&D reflects this with the inclusion of \"exotic weapons,\" into which a character must put special effort, if (s)he wishes to wield them effectively. Now, of course, D&D has a class system that allows the fighter to more readily gain that skill, but in PS, all that would require is for such a combat-minded individual to spend progression points and tria on training in that skill (although unique types of weapons requiring special skill do not exist). Still, obviously, a player who spends a majority of his/her progression points on magic skills will be unable to put so much into fighting.
Thus, the possibility for specialization exists in Planeshift already, but is not forced, nor should it be. However, the training system currently in place, meant to discourage power-leveling, in fact encourages mastering more than one skill, because this more quickly increases a character\'s overall power! Training a single skill as quickly as possible takes a certain ammount of time for each rank, but training two, three, or more skills as quickly as possible barely takes any more time, if it does at all. Specializing will not make you better at a skill than someone more diverse, as the system works now. This, I think, is the biggest problem with Planeshift\'s theory of anti-powergaming. The hassle of returning to a trainer at each skill rank means that the best way to improve your skills is to do it all in one fell swoop, and return to all trainers at once, not to each individually as the skill is completed.
My solution? I believe that if skills were not dependant on trainers at all (with the exception of more specialized and technical skills like crafting), then those that were most valuable to each individual, and most used by them, would be the ones in which they were most skilled. It certainly is the logical outcome of removing the barrier and letting things progress naturally. The more practiced swordsman (accounting for talent, of course) would be the most skilled. But hey, this game isn\'t my project, and I can\'t dictate the way that it is run. Just my two tria.
It is also unreasonable to say that \"roleplaying\" implies a lack of diversity within the individual, to be replaced by diversification within a group of specialized individuals. \"Over-specialize, and you breed in weakness.\" Not everyone\'s life goal is to be the absolute best at one thing and one thing only. And for those who don\'t, it is only natural that they will master their more diverse interests, eventually, although their progress in any one area will likely be much slower than that of a more dedicated individual. This is already the case in PS. Roleplaying does not mean you are forced to rely on others for everything that is not your \"specialty.\" I do, however, agree with the idea of \"hidden numbers.\" I should not be able to pick up a weapon and give you a number or two to explain how effective it will be in battle. Oh, and I would expect high-quality weapons to be easier to wield, not more difficult. A weapon quite different (and perhaps simply better by virtue of the physics behind it) from others encountered would be more difficult to wield. D&D reflects this with the inclusion of \"exotic weapons,\" into which a character must put special effort, if (s)he wishes to wield them effectively. Now, of course, D&D has a class system that allows the fighter to more readily gain that skill, but in PS, all that would require is for such a combat-minded individual to spend progression points and tria on training in that skill (although unique types of weapons requiring special skill do not exist). Still, obviously, a player who spends a majority of his/her progression points on magic skills will be unable to put so much into fighting.
Thus, the possibility for specialization exists in Planeshift already, but is not forced, nor should it be. However, the training system currently in place, meant to discourage power-leveling, in fact encourages mastering more than one skill, because this more quickly increases a character\'s overall power! Training a single skill as quickly as possible takes a certain ammount of time for each rank, but training two, three, or more skills as quickly as possible barely takes any more time, if it does at all. Specializing will not make you better at a skill than someone more diverse, as the system works now. This, I think, is the biggest problem with Planeshift\'s theory of anti-powergaming. The hassle of returning to a trainer at each skill rank means that the best way to improve your skills is to do it all in one fell swoop, and return to all trainers at once, not to each individually as the skill is completed.
My solution? I believe that if skills were not dependant on trainers at all (with the exception of more specialized and technical skills like crafting), then those that were most valuable to each individual, and most used by them, would be the ones in which they were most skilled. It certainly is the logical outcome of removing the barrier and letting things progress naturally. The more practiced swordsman (accounting for talent, of course) would be the most skilled. But hey, this game isn\'t my project, and I can\'t dictate the way that it is run. Just my two tria.
, are not usually as in your face as Karyuu is. So that throws be off as well.