Anti-Powerleveler Idea

[Feline Prince]

If we got rid of the numbers do you think it would get rid of powerlevelers? With the exact same system in place (Even though it needs replacing) do you think if the numbers weren't there to be plainly seen it would discourage people levelling for the sake of levelling. Why would we want to get rid of these people? Well they aren't productive to the community and they are typically the type who use leet speak.

[Proglin]

I do not intendt to stomp your topix down immedeatly, but perhaps it is wise to wait a bit. this "problem" hasn't been arround for long and has never been before. If you want a bit, I'm sure the problem will be solved by itself, or with the help of a dev-team and Gm-team.

please do not view those teams as complete retards, they are aware and working.

[zanzibar]

If we got rid of the numbers do you think it would get rid of powerlevelers? With the exact same system in place (Even though it needs replacing) do you think if the numbers weren't there to be plainly seen it would discourage people levelling for the sake of levelling.

I think the only way to limit levelling for the sake of levelling is to limit how much levelling a character can do.  One way to do this is to limit how many skills you can be good at, and I think Xordan has said it's on the to-do list.

I'm in favour of a number-free system.  Remember how weapons used to be?  You knew what they were called, but that was it.  Players didn't have access to the stats and it was great.  People experimented.  They compared notes.  Heck, they even used certain weapons simply because it's what their characters would use!  It gave the game colour and uniqueness, and now it's gone.

I'm in favour of a number-free progression system as well, but I don't think that stats should be hidden entirely, nor do I think it's the best way to improve the player base.  Instead of a rating of 1-200, it should be based on more subjective qualifiers such as "horrible, poor, average, fair, good, very good, elite".  Or something similar.  This can only happen once skills can be levelled without constant visits to a trainer, but there's such an incredible push for that that I can't imagine it not happening eventually.  (For those who don't know, the idea is that you can get better at something simply by doing it often, and trainers will merely speed up the learning process.)

Why would we want to get rid of these people? Well they aren't productive to the community and they are typically the type who use leet speak.

They've learned not to use leet speak, but what's worse is the emphasis some put on duelling as an answer to everything.  They have a habit of inventing IC grudges to act on OOC grudges.  They /shout cusses at people who refuse to duel, and they don't bring anything to the game in terms of roleplay.  It's less often that I see them list their stats in their character descriptions, but that only means they've become more self concious over time.

The thing is, all of this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that they're scaring so many people away from the game.

[Raa]

My input: just deal with them. If they bother you, ignore 'em. Your idea would irritate the good roleplayers, too.

[zanzibar]

My input: just deal with them. If they bother you, ignore 'em.

That's an impractical solution for the reasons people have given time and time again.

Your idea would irritate the good roleplayers, too.

What makes you say that?

[Roderyck Slywolfe]

In my opinion, too much time is spent worrying about what others are doing and not enough time spent RPing. So much time has been wasted complaining about power-levelers, and not much good will ever come from it.

Just look at leet speak as a character would look at an ignorant barbarian butchering the common language, and you can simply implement it into your RP. 

Bottom line is...

You'll never be able to moderate what aspects players enjoy about PS, and you can't tell them HOW to play.

Let everyone just enjoy the game however they wish, and if they annoy you, simply ignore them.

[zanzibar]

Leet speak isn't the problem.

[eldoth_terevan]

I might not have quite gotten the meaning at first... I do think that having level titles instead of numbers gives a better feel to the game and would encourage IC discussion a little more than the level values do now.

[Feline Prince]

Well I know plenty of you sit with your little groups who you RP with but when I mingle around try to start conversations with the people who seem to be doing the same, many of them talk in a constant OOC manner much like you would expect to see in runescape. I would be nice to see people say 'I am only a novice miner' rather than 'I have 3 in mining'. Also taking away the numbers would take the emphasis off the skills and place more on roleplaying which would surely do nothing but improve things? At the moment things are swayed far too much towards skills, which means half the people are not using them at all and the other half are using them only and not engaging with the game on any other level. I think it would be a happy medium where people would roleplay the skills they gain as they gain them and would have no choice because they would have to describe it IC as they have no numbers to recite when talking about skills.

I do not intendt to stomp your topix down immedeatly, but perhaps it is wise to wait a bit. this "problem" hasn't been arround for long and has never been before. If you want a bit, I'm sure the problem will be solved by itself, or with the help of a dev-team and Gm-team.

please do not view those teams as complete retards, they are aware and working.

I see something that could be better and I'm giving ideas on how it could be improved.

@Zanzibar: I agree that they shouldn't be hidden completely, just not numbers. Idealy the NPC who is training you should tell you what level you've reached, from 'mmm its a start I guess' to 'your getting the hang of it' all the way to 'quiet amazing, i can't teach you any more, you might want to talk to 'NPC,' he'll teach you how to become a master in the field.'

[zanzibar]

I agree that they shouldn't be hidden completely, just not numbers. Idealy the NPC who is training you should tell you what level you've reached, from 'mmm its a start I guess' to 'your getting the hang of it' all the way to 'quiet amazing, i can't teach you any more, you might want to talk to 'NPC,' he'll teach you how to become a master in the field.'

I see this as a different manner and something that should be added anyway.

[saladasalad]

Why do people here keep going on about "powerleveling"? How does it affect your experience in the game? People like to level up, if that is how they want to play their game who are you to say they can't do that? Is all levelling "power-levelling"? This is a GAME, people like to do things in games, such as levelling up.

[zanzibar]

How does it affect your experience in the game?

People have answered this question many times.  Read some of their answers and you might get an idea of... what the answer is... or something.

[saladasalad]

So what should I do? Start opening random threads?

[Zan]

Why do people here keep going on about "powerleveling"? How does it affect your experience in the game? People like to level up, if that is how they want to play their game who are you to say they can't do that? Is all levelling "power-levelling"? This is a GAME, people like to do things in games, such as levelling up.

It is not disturbing at all on it's own ... which is also one of the points Zanzi is trying to make, I think. There is nothing wrong with powerleveling as a concept, the problem lies with the translation to roleplaying. Powerlevelers want to be the best at everything, they play with the goal of getting that next skill level. Usually this means roleplay is neglected or completely ignored ... nothing the Devs can do about that really. It is disruptive for us RPers though. But what they can do is making the system of leveling more RP oriented. Getting rid of numbers is one way to do that.

It won't get rid of powerlevelers ... but it will force them to talk about their skills as "I'm still poor at mining." or "I'm a master swordsman."

[Quq Leque]

good point, define 'poor at mining' with current settings .... as long as there's a possibility to train, you need levels that you can train at an npc. either that or remove all levelling and go to godmodding skills instead of actually learn them by training/practicing skill.