Numbered monster skills

[MirceaKitsune]

One thing I often had trouble with was figuring if a monster is the right level for me or not. In order to do that, I had to let them hit me once, and in case I survived log off so they'll stop chasing me. I know about examining monsters ("you judge X is more / less strong than you"), but I find that very inaccurate and untrue much of the time. And PlaneShift has the difference of not having universal levels (eg. "Mircea LV 7", leveling up as you fight) since each job has its own skill, so it can't be done like in most mmos either. Still, I would like a way to see how strong I am compared to a monster in numbers. I had two possible solutions for this in mind:

First one is a general combat level, that would display the average value of all your combat skills. So if you have melee level 1, sword level 2, and armor level 3, your general combat level would be 2. For monsters however, it would display the average value between how much damage they deal and how resistant they are to damage. This could also allow seeing the number above monsters without having to click them. Like "One-Eyed-Rat (+2)", meaning rats have a general combat skill greater with 2 than yours. This would make it easy to compare yourself to monsters while just passing by and looking at them. And for players, it can be calculated based on the items they have. So for example, the light armor skill is only calculated if you have light armor on you, and the sword skill if you are holding a sword. Imo this would be the best way to go.

The second idea, as an alternative to the first, was making the attack and defense skills of monsters public. So instead of getting an estimation when examining them, you would see their exact defense level and attack level, and compare them to your own. Not sure if this would work for players, since that would require making all of their skills public (in order to judge an opponent for PvP matches).

What do you think? If any of these ideas (or a similar one anyone can think of) would be agreed on, it would make trying monsters less hard and risky imo. A good idea for newbies especially... so they won't risk dying every time they try a new monster.

[Phantomboy86]

while i'd kind of want this, as 'about as strong as you' can be anywhere from drop dead weakling (tloke drones were 'about as strong' when i felt ready to fight them at around 20 daggers, and i found out they died in 2 hits.) to GOING TO F'ING MURDER YOU, which i found out from I think it was either Trepors or Sand Aragnma's. And when something is 'not quite as strong' you are going to murder them, period. Assuming it isnt a player that has a good sounding magic level.

However, I do like the idea that you have to test the waters, it helps avoid power leveling. And for players i would not suggest making their skills public.

[Earowo]

One thing I often had trouble with was figuring if a monster is the right level for me or not. In order to do that, I had to let them hit me once, and in case I survived log off so they'll stop chasing me. I know about examining monsters ("you judge X is more / less strong than you"), but I find that very inaccurate and untrue much of the time. And PlaneShift has the difference of not having universal levels (eg. "Mircea LV 7", leveling up as you fight) since each job has its own skill, so it can't be done like in most mmos either. Still, I would like a way to see how strong I am compared to a monster in numbers. I had two possible solutions for this in mind:

First one is a general combat level, that would display the average value of all your combat skills. So if you have melee level 1, sword level 2, and armor level 3, your general combat level would be 2. For monsters however, it would display the average value between how much damage they deal and how resistant they are to damage. This could also allow seeing the number above monsters without having to click them. Like "One-Eyed-Rat (+2)", meaning rats have a general combat skill greater with 2 than yours. This would make it easy to compare yourself to monsters while just passing by and looking at them. And for players, it can be calculated based on the items they have. So for example, the light armor skill is only calculated if you have light armor on you, and the sword skill if you are holding a sword. Imo this would be the best way to go.

The second idea, as an alternative to the first, was making the attack and defense skills of monsters public. So instead of getting an estimation when examining them, you would see their exact defense level and attack level, and compare them to your own. Not sure if this would work for players, since that would require making all of their skills public (in order to judge an opponent for PvP matches).

What do you think? If any of these ideas (or a similar one anyone can think of) would be agreed on, it would make trying monsters less hard and risky imo. A good idea for newbies especially... so they won't risk dying every time they try a new monster.

there is an azure way spell, that lets you scan a monster/persons stats/skills, but the deveelopers took it away, if you try to use it it will say its not implemented, so i think they are working on it to make it seem more of an IC thing

[Bonifarzia]

In fact, some of the information displayed at the bottom of a characters or NPCs description (accessible via /target & /view or the "eye" context button) is generated by some formula which takes into account all of the targets physical stats and combat skills or mental stats and magic skills respectively. The only problem is that those three estimates of character appearance are defined to be very inaccurate at the moment, especially the third one which compares the targets overall (magic and combat) attributes with yours. Until we have a better set of rules for this, the best you can do is try to rely on the physical estimate, which is still better than the relative one. Indeed, things were much more precise when we had the spell nature intuition to our disposal, which simply opened an info window intended to be used by GMs only - the proper implementation of that spell may thus greatly differ from that once it is done.

[potare]

This idea sounds a lot like what runescape is like.


(runescape is the worst game ever)

[Earowo]

(runescape is the worst game ever)

Yes, Yes it is. and somehow, they can give trojans, through java..

[potare]

interesting I didn't know that. Runescape is still the worst game ever

[Koios]

You guys clearly haven't heard of Maple Story then. Oh, the horror. Alright, enough 

There used to be a nice AW spell that would let you look at all the OOC mechanical attributes of any given NPC and player. It had its pros and cons as most things do, but I hope for a more balanced spell once we get it back in the edited form.
I remember one time, mining at the now dried out Platinum mine in Gug (seeing as this is history, I hardly believe it's a spoiler anymore), a bunch of people having a "scan-war" and compared everyone on the hill to eachother. Not all that fun.

My current tip to people who don't know how well they'll be able to fight a monster is: Attack it in Bloody stance and get ready to run. If you can hardly hit it or not at all: Run. If it hurts you much when it hits you, so that you'll probably be the first one without any HP left: Run. You can also see if you can't find someone with healing abilities to accompany you on your hunting expedition, might make for some good RP

[MirceaKitsune]

I wouldn't compare this feature to other games, since imo it's a common feature in almost any mmo. Never played Runescape though so I dunno about that

Wasn't aware of this spell, I guess it helps and makes sense. Not sure how good this is as a spell really. I'm thinking spells and skills are mostly for affecting certain properties (doing damage, restoring health, shielding), rather than popping up info on the HUD, which is usually a default feature that anyone has. Perhaps a ring would be more useful, if it can't be default (when you wear it, it grants you the ability to see the exact skills of any being). That makes most sense to me.

[EStripus]

It's a humble suggestion but here goes. Spend time RPing and make some OOC friends and IC friends. Eventually, you'll befriend an experienced player. They can also give you hints and suggestions about what mobs would be good for your skill level. Hunt with them in a group. If the mob is too big for you then, they can kill it to save you. It's a faster way to find what monsters you can hunt then constantly logging in/out.

[Sarva]

Planeshift is a game that is much easier, and provides a better gaming experience, if you make friends. Friends that can help you with information and tips and can point you int he right direction. Take EStripus advice and make some friends, or join a good guild that actually helps guild members.

[Earowo]

Planeshift is a game that is much easier, and provides a better gaming experience, if you make friends. Friends that can help you with information and tips and can point you int he right direction. Take EStripus advice and make some friends, or join a good guild that actually helps guild members.

Like mine ^.^

[MirceaKitsune]

Yes, I agree it's much better with friends. When I first joined I met a group of nice people, who guided me through the necessary quests in order to get a mount (don't think I could have otherwise). However, since I've been away from PS for the summer, they seem to be offline now. So for the last days, I need to figure everything alone or occasionally ask for help on IRC, and don't really interact with other players in-game (since there aren't many that I come across either).

So my vision about being helped can be summed up to: It's totally more awesome if you have friends to play with (and more boring otherwise). But one must never depend on that, and Plane Shift should be as reasonable to players that play alone. If it's next to impossible for someone to get something done by theirself, I personally see that as a reasonable problem. Playing together is fun, but I don't think it should ever be dependency imo.