[CF List] Experience Categories

[Andreas Vogl]

in reply to Erhard Sanio:

>
     
      Playing Crossfire for a while, I consider the chances to 
     
     >
     
      obtain experience in the different categories seriously
     
     >
     
      imbalanced. [...]
     
     
The reason why the non-combat skills are so broken
is that they are handled completely in the wrong way.
For some reason, many Crossfire developers seem to avoid
mapmaking. All skills in Crossfire are designed to work on
any monster, on any map. Preferably in a way that nobody
has to even think about it, and so that no new maps are needed.

But it is never going to work that way!
As Henric Karlsson stated in his previous post:
Special skills need special maps.

Currently, all maps are designed for the combat skills.
We can never have a properly working stealing, hiding
or mental skill when there are no maps supporting those.

Additionally, the skill system must also support
the creation of such special maps.
For example: If there was a value to tune the difficulty
of stealing from a particular monster, I could make
a good quest for thieves. If there was some way to trigger
events when a stealing-attempt failed, I could make even
better stealing quests.
Same applies for singing: Give me a way to tune the
difficulty of pacifying/orating a monster, I create one
that is a terrible fighter but easy-prey for bard-skills.

Only in that way can non-combat skills ever get on one
level with the combat skills. There must be places/quests 
where non-combat skills offer real advantages.
And it must be possible to balance them *independent*
from the combat aspect. Monsters must be able to show
different "vulnerabilities" for defined skills.

There is no way to make skills like stealing or singing
work on the pure combat maps we currently have.
Well, in fact, there is one:
Create a way to sing or steal monsters to death.
Then, create weapons for singing/stealing like
"flute of terror", and "lockpicks of doom". But wait -
doesn't that end up in combat skills... ? :-)


Andreas