July 2007

• [JOB] Linden Lab Brighton Party 26th July Jim Purbrick
• • [JOB] Linden Lab Brighton Party 26th July Christopher Lloyd
• [BIZ] Forum software? Mike Rozak
• • [BIZ] Forum software? Caliban Darklock
  • • [BIZ] Forum software? Adam Martin
  • [BIZ] Forum software? Chan Yong Wei
  • [BIZ] Forum software? Michael Chui
  • [BIZ] Forum software? David Johansson
  • [BIZ] Forum software? Dana V. Baldwin
  • • [BIZ] Forum software? David Johansson
  • [BIZ] Forum software? Morgan Ramsay
• [DESIGN] Will players pay for public services? Nicholas Koranda
• • [DESIGN] Will players pay for public services? cruise
• [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Nicholas Koranda
• • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
  • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
      • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
      • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
        • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
          • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
            • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
              • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
                • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
                  • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Aurel Mihai
                    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
                      • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
                      • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Michael Chui
                    • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                      • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                        • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                          • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                            • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                              • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
                                • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                                  • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                                  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                                    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                                      • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                                  • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                                  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
                            • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Michael Chui
                            • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                        • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
            • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
          • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Arras
          • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
            • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
              • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
              • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
                • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
                  • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
                    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Damion Schubert
                      • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... John Buehler
                      • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
                      • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
                        • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
              • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Acius
              • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
          • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
        • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Tom Hudson
        • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Caliban Darklock
    • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Jarod Reid
    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Vincent Archer
        According to Jarod Reid:
        > Travis Casey wrote:
        > > ... or get someone else to level their characters for them, or help
        > > them level. If you want to lock lesser-skilled players out of higher
        > > levels, you'd need to either allow losing levels (so that poor play of
        > > a high-level character would cause it to become lower level), or
        > > eliminate character levels entirely and make the game rely purely on
        > > player skill (so that in order to handle difficult areas, you have to
        > > have the skill to do it yourself.)
        
        One of the two specific ideas that subtended the original proposition
        is that levels serve a specific purpose in level-based MMOs. A level
        is a simple indicator of the ability of a character to tackle certain
        challenge. If I intend to get into the Sunken Temple in World of
        Warcraft, I will be seeking level 50 characters (or above).
        
        Right now, games achieve this in a specific way: a level N gives
        you X stamina, Y mana and Z attack power, which is required to be able
        to survive against a level N monster. Getting a level N enables you
        to defeat the monster.
        
        The purpose of the achievement system is primarily to operate in
        reverse. You don't go thru a level N dungeon because you're level N,
        you become level N because you demonstrated being able to go thru the
        level N dungeon.
        
        (or rather, an increasingly complex set of tasks. A level 50 character
        is expected to know where the Sunken Temple is, know the weaknesses
        of level 50 monsters, what tactics are required for the various boss
        and the order of statues to summon the troll bberserke. In WoW,
        a level 50 character has only demonstrated he was able to keep on
        killing stuff for at least N hours)
        
        > >> However, no player can ever accuse your game to encourage grind
        > >> (repeating mindlessly the easiest task you can find for your level)
        > >> or call it a treadmill, if the requirements for real skills keep
        > >> changing as you level.
        > >
        > > Unless you really can come up with hundreds of unique tasks, they
        > > certainly can. People complain now about the repetitiveness of quests
        > > all the time.
        
        And that's the advantage of fungible XP. If you cannot come with enough
        varied challenges, you can use to cop out of "repeat this action X
        times, and you can go 'ding'!"
        
        > What this looks like to me is a good idea on paper, but a pain to
        > implement due to the need to create achievements for every level.
        
        It is. Achievements are almost equivalent to xp, except for one
        tiny little difference: you get XP for doing something only once.
        After you've done it, you never ever again gain xp. So, you do have
        to come with enough different actions to fill the path from level 1
        to... whatever level you can figure.
        
        Of course, you have categories of actions that are similar. Visiting
        a place is visiting a place, there's a whole world (well, there
        should be) full of places to visit. But visiting a starting city
        is a level 3 achievement, while finding Mt Doom is level 40, and
        getting to the Chasm of Destiny is level 45.
        
        --
        Vincent Archer Email: archer@frmug.org
        
        All men are mortal. Socrates was mortal. Therefore, all men are Socrates.
        (Woody Allen)
    • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... cruise
    • • [DESIGN] Removing the almighty experience point... Travis Casey
• [DESIGN] Believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation) Nicholas Koranda
• [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Nicholas Koranda
• • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Travis Casey
  • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Jon Leonard
    • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Peter Keeler
    • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Caliban Darklock
      • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Peter Keeler
        • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Michael Chui
          • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Caliban Darklock
            • • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency John Buehler
              • [DESIGN] Active and Inactive Currency Johnicholas Hines
• [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Nicholas Koranda
• • [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Travis Casey
  • [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation cruise
  • • [DESIGN] Expected value and standard deviation Darryl Woodford