When a player prestiges their toon, they also choose to erase all of their skills to zero and to learn new skills costs proportionally more bp's with each successive prestige level, therefore we will increase the toon's stat value, but the learning becomes more specialized for the specific build they pursue. That way you can have a realllllly powerful "healer" who isnt that good at necro and vise versa, or you could also have a realllllly powerful melee club user who cant cast really any spells. and of course engineer and tweek the variables upon observed behaviors after release to dial it in to an agreeable fair standard..
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Prestiging before the Rat Labs takeover set every skill at 5, and increased the skill level cap with find only skill books.
not bad but not the best way of going about it. does not encourage specialization through sacrifice, just gives extra extras
I don't know if erasing all the skills back to zero (if I'm understanding that right) is the way to go, as prestiging is supposed to increase your powers even if only slightly - if it reduces your combat effectiveness by losing gm spells in a certain spell school your wizards are especially going to feel the pain, and at least until there are new prestige abilities to make up for this disparity in power it may not be the way to go. However, the idea of becoming more specialised throughout prestige is a very good idea. So much so that myself and a guy named "Bite" wrote a pretty lengthy post of a similar subject back in mw feedback days. Here's a short write up of it;
-you'd essentially get a selection of 3 options each prestige (either on website or in game depending what's easier)
Example For warrior at prestige 1:
- 1) would shuffle a stat point from int into str - this is called the path of the berserker
- 2) would shuffle a stat point from int into dex - this is called the path of the ranger
- 3) would shuffle a stat point from dex into int - this is called the path of the paladin
Example For warrior at prestige 2:
- 1) would shuffle a stat point from dex into str - the path of the berserker
- 2) would shuffle a stat point from int into end - the path of the ranger
- 3) would shuffle a stat point from str into int - the path of the paladin
Each class would have 3 randomised options each prestige, and the stat shifts change each time to add a way of changing each of the 4 stats into one another so after enough prestiges you create a character with the same amount of base stat points but they are perfectly optimised for the role you want them to be, zero int warriors, zero str wizards and alike, allowing for much more customisation and becoming truly specialised in one thing beyond the constraints of char creation. You can also choose to not take a path bonus if you're happy with your current stats and are just prestiging for something to do.
It creates a pseudo class system without a huge power creep - but without losing skills or utility. Anyway, sorry for hijacking your thread sort of, thought you might appreciate another view on a similar idea, food for thought and all that.
nice, i was discussing a similar idea to the one i said in OP back in the ST days with hercules when he got "the code" or whatever and was playing with those decisions.. hopely they are already in talks about something like these. to save the end-game sorta
As much as I'd like to become more specialised each prestige - I do think that the mw prestige felt great,the increased power felt fun, though realistically it was only +1 atk/dodge/block and some base sdm from med+spell schools really, it still felt worthwhile to do it, the real issue with end-game power balance was the +atk crafted gear but that's a different topic entirely. So I'm not certain "end game needs saving" but could be given more structure instead of just becoming the master of all depending what books you find
i dont find being "master of all" appealing really. whats the point of playing with others when you can become master of all? having highly specialized toons for specific situations is a lot more interesting to me. or maybe with "learning resistance" a person can choose to prestige further or not based on how much "master of all" they would like to be
"player: so grouping is dead huh
player: everyone just does it with they on 6 toons"
END END END GAME mobs should be nearly impossible for unprestigious mortals(only under extreme RNG circumstances and tolerances should they be able to vanquish these particular foes but still technically possible) and require a very precise combination of highly prestiged and SPECIALIZED toons which also saves organic group hunting. that way the real heroes of the realm can focus on their one or two toons to join forces with the other real prestigious heroes of the realm and boom they find the most rarest prizest and sought after town loot that theres only so many of in the game that theres not necessarily any OP functionality of, but still of rare and exclusive highly desirable cosmatic loots.
this lets those who dont care so much about that items just keep playing as normal,
but allows prestigers a very real incentive for honing their skills and selected builds over time and player driven r & d. ?
or a single player with a lot a lot of time in their hands to do multiple prestiges across about a dozen different toon types.
in the solution i just pitched: Learning resistance would give the players the CHOICE to either become more powerfully specialized, or stay more versatile but with a much lower cap on stat powers. Having it ALL is boring af. been there done that. having dependable allies and companions who feel needed and need your help as much as you need theirs is way better than being overfed as a player to a level of toxicity.
"(only under extreme RNG circumstances and tolerances should they be able to vanquish these particular foes but still technically possible)
"
i mean so difficult that a normal mortal player with even the best chanted high tier gear available in each slot would only have about a 20% chance or less of beating them, much less finding the epic loot they would be known to drop, and when these mobs kill you, you are almost certain to drop at least 5 items from your inventory.
sadistic level mobs only beatable by the most prestigious, specialized, and best geared GROUP of toons
and what do they drop? normal top tier gear sometimes and very rarely like different color GEMS that are like ctc horns but dye items assorted and perhaps seasonal glowie colors :p
Prestige as a mechanic should reset toon lvl to 1, reset skills to class base, and the reward for doing so is you keep your gear (w/ chants)and spells (greying out ones you can't use, saving you from needing to find books again), while also giving more stat points to use (say 2 - 3 per prestige level) like when you made the toon. This in addition to the extra skill levels from found only books and an increase to exp needed per level (like a 10% more needed per level) should be enough to keep things interesting. Having dungeons, gear, spells, etc that require a certain prestige level would be good too.
Or remove classes instead of being the same as pretty much every other MMORPG in history. Have minimum and maximum attribute values for each race, but other than that, no "classes". There needs to be growth with every single level. If it were me, I'd do it through attribute points per level. Yeah that's already in some games, it's just the logical way to do it. It could also be done just like the SDM per level bonus, although that's sloppier. All attributes should be enchantable. Instead of enchantments adding flat amounts, each enchant could add a percentage of the base attribute. Weapons and spells can of course be balanced so this won't hurt anything. Everything would just make more sense. If you start with the right foundation, everything else falls into place easily. A character with super high strength can wear thicker armor that absorbs more damage. Pretty much anything that requires agility would have a penalty based on your encumbrance. So a giant in thick armor won't dodge much but his armor will absorb more, the other way around would be true for a light armored, high dexterity character. There should also be a natural chance to miss, besides a chance to dodge or block, even for some spells. This way the dexterity of a character can play a better role. A big, strong, dumb, clumsy giant can take more hits and hit harder if he does hit, the dexterous character will land and avoid more attacks etc. Weapons should only have minor differences in their base damage, the main difference should be in their durability, and their damage should get lower as they get more damaged. A soft copper sword can be almost as sharp as a steel one, it would just dull and need to be repaired faster etc. There would be no real need for level requirements on equipment, if you try to use a super heavy weapon for the higher damage on a weak character, they obviously won't be able to use it well. There also needs to be a maximum for each attribute per race. There should be more damage of time effects besides poison, such as bleeding and burning. Pretty much any attack that hits bare skin should cause bleeding. Blunt weapons would of course cause less than an axe. It also doesn't really make sense that a blunt weapon should do more damage than a sharp one of the same mass. There needs to be another stat/meter that has to do with stamina. Each action would have a cost of stamina based on encumbrance, and raising the stamina attribute would give you a higher regeneration. So basically, a character could get tired in a battle and need to rest if they fight too hard. A similar thing could replace mana crystals. Maybe call it "energy" or "spirit". Basically, mimic reality where you can and you'll end up with a pretty balanced foundation.
Peetronus, they would have to implment a change in character creation that let you pick starting skills, not to exceed rank 2
