[CF-Devel] New Skill System (Draft)

[Yann Chachkoff]

>
     
     There seems to be some disagreement over the concept of a points system, and
     
     >
     
     the reasoning behind making things cost differing amounts of points than 
     
     other
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     things.
     
     >
     
     
     >
     
     1) Why a points system?
     
     >
     
     
     <snip> 
To summarize your points here : 
1.1 - Impossible to spend weeks to learn a skill with a teacher; 
1.2 - Points allows a better representation of a per-skill learning; 
1.3 - It is flexible and customizable; 
1.4 - It is classless; 
1.5 - It is better than just getting skill scrolls randomly in shops.
 
My answers to the following points are:
 
1.1 - You're right about this. I never said spending weeks to progressively 
learn a skill with a teacher would be a good thing. It is very difficult to 
implement in a way players don't get quickly bored.
 
1.2 - I fail to understand why a points-based system would be better than an 
experience-based one. The only difference between using experience points and 
skill points is the 'granularity' of the progression. I see no clear reason to 
change the current system, since the same results could be achieved using exp. 
points.
 
1.3 - It is, but not more than a simple upgrade of the current system 
(assigning experience and levels to specializations as well as to group of 
skills).
 
1.4 - So is the current system already (The classes are mostly a 'starting 
template' that can be completed and modified over the time to fit the player's 
taste).
 
1.5 - True indeed - I find skill scrolls quite unnatural. However, the way new 
skills are learned (by finishing quests, getting enough knowledge in a base 
skill, or finding an 'old sage' that could reveal you the secret of a lost 
art) isn't really linked to the underlying scoring system - these are 
completely different problems.

>
     
     2) Why do some skills cost more than others?  It's not realistic!
     
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     <snip> 
Summarizing your thoughts here: 
2.1 - Some skills are used more often than others, explaining a strange 
classification of their costs; 
2.2 - Rebalancing could be done later, if someone finds a solution.
 
I think I have been misunderstood here somewhat. 
What I'm not liking at all in the new scheme is the fact it tries to impose a 
completely artificial set of constraints on the game mechanisms.
 
What is the current problem ? Some skills are not useful enough. The correct 
solution would be to find an answer to "How can we make them useful ?". The 
proposal doesn't answer that at all. Instead, it focuses only on the 
level/experience balance, giving more weight to some skills over others.
 
Retaking the bow example: bows are not often used because they're less 
powerful than other weapons or ranged spells; would lowering the costs for the 
'missile weapons' skill make it more interesting and fun to play ? I don't 
think so, since the weapons themselves will not change at all. The only result 
would be that players will have to wait a little longer to get points in the 
'sword' skill, giving a slower level progression than before.
 
In summary:
 
1. I don't believe a more complex system would change anything at all about 
the most important problem ('useless' skills);
 
2. I don't think a differential progression scale (different costs for 
different skills) would have any influence on the interest and fun of using 
'useless' skills;
 
3. The new system is a nearly complete breakdown with the current one, and as 
such will require heavy modifications on the server code, for an effectiveness 
that has yet to be proven.
 
-------------------------
 
The proposal made by AndreasV. about skills (step-by-step extension of the 
current skill scheme) seems much more realistic to me; it has the advantages 
of being coherent with the current experience ruling, and has the same 
extensibility potential. It also doesn't require any artificial exceptions and 
per-skill adjustments.

Y. Chachkoff
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