If there are no levels...

[Drilixer]

There are not going to be Player levels in Planeshift I believe... If that\'s the case isn\'t there a problem with the whole idea of the current \'duel\' but no pking system?  How would a new character EVER know how strong another character that challenges him is if there are no levels?  Higher \'skill\' characters at this point would look pretty much the same as new characters if people are unable to see the clothes they are wearing and stuff.  So I think alot of new characters would unknowingly accept duels with Uber-characters and the Links out there...

I posted this in Wish List forum since the problem is inevitably not the dueling system but the level system and the inability to gage your power in comparison with someone else\'s.  Replies Please.

[hook]

i thought about the same problem some time ago and thought that having the apearance show how experienced you are (probably using standard exp. if there will be some, or calculate it from all the skill levels) ...my idea was that the more experienced you are the older you\'d look ...but the idea didn\'t pass through ...so i\'d still think in somewhat the same way, but with a different indicator

...maybe in the library a book with all the players listed with skills above some level.... or something like that

[Drilixer]

Only problem then is that you would have duelists hanging all over the library - we agree that there needs to be some way to refernce people\'s levels: the only two ways that I can imagine are experience and total number of allocated skill points.  But then there is the problem of where this information will be displayed on a character... what about when you target something that information is given to you in the little target window

[Ravencrowe]

What about showing their names with different colors to depict their skill level vs. yours?  Red or purple could mean that they\'re too powerful to duel.  Yellow or white could mean that they\'re about the same.  Green could mean they\'re too weak.  It could accompany this with a little phrase in the buffer like \"This character would have an advantage in a duel\" or \"This character is too strong for you!\"  This would also be helpful in forming groups.

[Drilixer]

sounds alot like Neverwinter Nights System, I never really liked that one but it could have just been my general dislike for NWN

[Wedge]

Problem is, with a skill based system determining strength, it would really have to take into account where the skills are allocated and match those up.  Because if someone had skills strong against someone elses weakness, but they had overall less skill points, they could still stand a chance.  I think it really shouldn\'t say anything though.  Maybe there could be a scouting ability that would let you see someone elses strength, but otherwise going in to try and fight someone you have no idea about usually is a bad idea.

[Drilixer]

thats an idea - you could run a spot check and if succesful you would see their stats (not their skills just strength intelligence etc etc)

[Captainbreakdance]

Why don\'t you just make it so you can right click them and see stats as an option?That would make it easy.

[Abemore]

no, no, no.  you cant see the stats of anyone.  thats crazy.  

you can however take a look at that players weapons and gear.  If they have a glowing sword, and yours is made of wood, its probably not a good idea to challenge them.  

also there should be different type of dueling.  dueling to the death should not always be everyones first choice.  there should be dueling for honor, gold, or an agreed prize of some sort.  and there should be an option for nonlethal dueling so\'s people dont go getting themselves killed.

[no_dammagE]

The easiest way would be to show the character\'s age (in the game). I mean, to show the netto time the Char was playing. This way you can determine how strong or weak the char is.

Just show such a line:
An adventurer since: 3 days (baby char)
And here I mean 3 game days and not 3 calendar days

[Ravencrowe]

Originally posted by no_dammagE
The easiest way would be to show the character\'s age (in the game). I mean, to show the netto time the Char was playing. This way you can determine how strong or weak the char is.

Just show such a line:
An adventurer since: 3 days (baby char)
And here I mean 3 game days and not 3 calendar days

What if they don\'t spend a lot of time improving their skills in game?  That could be very misleading.  But, it\'s a good start.  Maybe it could keep track of how much time they had actually spent upping their skills, eh?  That would work.

But I really don\'t see what\'s wrong with right clicking and getting stats like Captain said.  What would be \"crazy\" about it?  Would an anonymity setting fix the craziness?

[Abemore]

i don\'t know why i said that.  its really not crazy.  it could work, but if it were done this way, no one could ever pretend to be lesser skilled than they really were (except in your anonymity scenario).  If may be fun to wear cloth armor and carry a wooden sword to see who picks on you.  Then you can unleash the fury.

...or not...whatever.

[shangralah]

im sorry i like this game alot and hope for it to be really good but if there isnt gonna be lvling theres no point of putting monsters in the game i dont think ill like it too long without lvls ....

[Ravencrowe]

Yeah, no point in putting monsters in the game.  Because if there\'s no levels, there\'s no progression.  Right?  Wrong.  Fighting enemies will still give you experience.  It\'s just that instead of lumping all your experience together and giving you a massive boost once it reaches a certain amount, it gives you experience in certain skills based on what you do.  It\'s the difference between a level-based system, and a skill-based system.  PS is skill-based.  I don\'t see why that wouldn\'t appeal to anyone at least the same as levels, but to each his own I guess.  Personally, I think without levels, you don\'t have levelling (like you said) and that\'s a good thing in my book because it means more actually PLAYING instead of mindlessly pulling ad nauseum.

[Wormtail_]

I agree with Ravencrowe. It doesn\'t really make any sense just having everything affect overall experience and suddenly become really good in something you never even practice. Lets stick with the saying \'Practive makes perfect.\' Even if there is no such thing as perfect, you still get better. Levels simply mean the overall skills, and can be very misleading too. In That Game, for example, people are playing as \'Pures,\' only training in strength and end up killing things 5 times their own level. So levels don\'t really mean much to me.

I like the ability to check on other players statitstics. While the idea of just having to right-click on a player to check their stats is pretty good, but I also agree with introducing trickery and deception in. Of course, it\'s not \'nice,\' but it does create some interesting results. Perhaps, like Wedge said, there could be an independent ability to check up on the stats of the player as well as monsters. However, there could also be a trickery option to decieve others, but I\'m not sure how that will work. Should it be an independent skills with other options? Sould it be part of an existing skill? Should the scoutign ability have more advantages than just checking on the stats of a player or monster? Will anyone actaully answer these questions?