[pythian] Re: DESIGN - Experience
- From: Darryl Long <pythianproject@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pythian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 18:59:11 -0400
Mike Dude wrote:
> About the choosing which "direction" the player wants to take, I have an
> idea..
>
>
> Let's say the player wants to become a Necromancer. He raises his "Magic"
> (this is just an example) skill to.. let's say 66 (get it?:p). Now in order
> for him to become a Necromancer, he has to have -1000 karma (or something
> similar.. we can use reputation). If the player has at least 66 "Magic" and
> at least
> -1000 karma, a new skill will appear, called "Necromancy".
I was thinking very much differently, but I've been too lazy to type it
out :)
I wasn't suggesting that every skill would be there for the player to
see. That would be silly. Rather, we'd only show the skills in which
the player has accumulated some ability (whether the minimum be 0.01% or
10%).
To get started in a skill, I agree there should be pre-requisites for
some skills, but I'm not for artificial constraints as you suggest. The
original idea was that skills should flow naturally out of "role
playing" instead of "rule lawyering" or "XP mongering". To get started
with Necromancy, the pre-requisite could be to find a higher-skilled
Necromancer who's willing to train you (for instance, he might have to
be 25% more skilled). You can't use Necromancy until you've been
trained at least once.
Other skills, like sword-swinging, don't require training to get
started, but you'll totally suck if you start from 0%. Obviously, the
rule for determining if a rule needs a pre-requisite is if it's
something that is not "innate" or something we are born with. We are
born with, or possess by age 18, the knowledge of running, jumping,
climbing, swimming (close enough), and other things, but we must be
taught reading, writing, math, and anything else intellectual. We can
give the player a head start on some things by, for instance, starting
him with basic reading and writing skills, and therefore bypass the
training step (we can say he was taught in school).
We would have to decide which skills have pre-requisites, which don't,
and which the player starts with, but I think I've demonstrated this
system has the flexibility to take us pretty far.
Darryl
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