The Dilemma of Level vs Skill - How Old Became New Again
Since MMORPGs became a mainstream medium, players have debated the two primary methods of advancement. Which is better? Is it the level-based system that is so dominate in today's MMORPGs or is it the lesser used skill-based system? This has been a strong subject of debate on many forums, blogs, and gaming sites for as long as the genre has existed. This week Cody "Micajah" Bye investigates the two concepts and gathers input from some of the brightest minds in the gaming industry about their thoughts on the two systems of advancement.
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Although MUDs and MOOs had been around for ages, using a variety of different systems derived from popular pen-and-paper RPG systems of their day, Ultima Online really started the modern massive gaming craze. Unlike the persistently popular Dungeons and Dragons, Ultima already had roots in a usage based skill progression system, which many gamers grew to know and love. But when EverQuest was released, it used a level-based character advancement system that focused the majority of a players power on their overall level rather than their skills. This dichotomy has caused quite the stir in MMORPG gamers, and blogs posts in every corner of the internet have brought the argument to their readers.
Good article. Enlightened me as to both sides of the argument and helped me understand how a combo of both may be best for now. I just hate the XP grind and time-sinks... which, unfortunately, I equate to level-based games.
What I realized when reading the part about EVE Online using ship types as levels, that perhaps linking leveling more with equipment rather than with the character may be a good answer. Thus the character gains skills, which allows them to use better equipment; which in turns, would make them more powerful. However, even with the powerful equipment, there are weaknesses. An example in EVE Online is a large battleship finding it difficult to lock onto a fast frigate, allowing a bunch of little frigates to breakdown the larger battleship. What I think is the downfall of some leveling designs is that they allow some characters to become way too powerful and thus untouchable by most other characters. That is when the ego trip of one character becomes more important than the overall morale of other players... which will kill a game, imo.
Where I see a potential problem along these lines is in Aion. You will find some hardcore players fast-tracking their characters up to 50th Level in a short time. When other players are just getting to 25th Level and entering into the PvP areas, these 50th Levels will be waiting to chew them up. I am sure Aion will live through this, but that makes me wonder how many players will just wait for themselves to get to 50th Level before even trying PvP. There has got to be a better way to get starting players into the thick of the action without having to be humilated by being some big player's playtoy in the meantime.
Last edited by LexStriker; 07-07-2009 at 03:17 PM.
You learn the mechanics of a character
You learn the mechanics of maps
You learn the mechanics of other classes by playing against them and as them
Then you the fun starts...
You Learn Metagame
What MMOs and "level" based systems do is just throw a grind in there for absolutely no reason. Everyone at the top has all the same level and gear anyways. It's just a way for casuals to be forced to learn their class(Good players due this out of sheer competitiveness anyways) that most would not do otherwise. Casuals are the type of people who take greens into raid dungeons and want all the gear and whine when they get kicked out. Good players know their role. It's sort of like when a higher division hockey team asks me to sub then doesn't ask me when they have enough skilled people. This doesn't bother me for the obvious reason that i know my place in the food chain. When i used to get asked for premades in WoW on a new server after taking a lengthy time off i would say "I have no gear but all my chars have been 2000+ rated plus so i know my class and metagame" and they let me in.
Not only is it casuals but it's bad players. Bad players want an edge. They want to play poker where only they can get dealt aces. Good players do not. Bad players want to go into a BG with huge gear advantages and kill alts and goto bed thinking how good they are. Good players kill a guy in greens and think nothing of it because it's implied. If they don't kill the guy in greens they are terrible. I remember once @ 60 i had an OP warlock. I would roll through battlegrounds posting scores like 41-2. 50-9. We'd win every match. Then once this rogue in blues with a wacky hemo build r*ped my face because i got cocky and didn't trinket correctly. After that i said to myself "Damn i've got to get my A game going i just got rolled by a guy in blues". In a sense it felt good. He kept me sharp. By losing so badly to an inferiorly geared player i spent the entire day of play trying to play perfect. The point is you are good at something you get nothing out of beating someone by folly or lack of gear. You enjoy only beating skilled opponents or opponents that have more gear that you. Whether it is Ice Hockey, or WoW.
But i believe it's bigger than just being bad or being casual at video gaming. I think it's about life. Many would consider him a doof but even Shaquille O' Neal once said "Excellence is not an act, it's a way of life". And this is so true. People that are good at one thing, are generally good at many things. You will rarely and i mean rarely find someone who is just insanely good at soccer or a distinguished professor be the type of person to wipe a raid. It's usually the guy who delivers pizzas or just got off of his Home Depot job. Now this is not an attempt to sound elitist but it's a polarization of thought process. Many lower thinks think on 1 level. They cannot understand meta game and cannot understand gameflow and only think what they are thinking not what their opponent is thinking.
In conclusion
Leveling=pointless, it proves nothing. Even my friend who is half retarded hit max level on WoW and i beat his paladin in a duel by only meleeing with my hunter and no pet. He's also cleared Naxx 10 and 25.
Gear=pointless. Everyone at the top has the same gear. It only seperates the wanna bes from the have nots.
Vanity Gear/Vanity Levels are fine. Useless achievements that show others that you have been or are the best. Any sort of skill/gear that gives you imbalance is not good. PvE gear has previously ruined every season of WoW Arena
And finally i'd like to add this
CASUALS STOP ASKING FOR NEW RACES/CLASSES/SHIPS/WEAPONS ETC WHEN THEY CANT EVEN BALANCE THE ONES THEY HAVE
6 things that are balanced are better than 8 things that are unbalanced ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
There is a way to combine features of a class system with a skilling system. It's called "Skilling Items". It basically means, that you do not skill/level your character, but your items/pets. Since items are a certain category, it has features of a class based system, while still being as free as skill systems. It shows the path for new users like class systems, but offers the complexity of skill systems to advanced players. Skilling items also means that the death penalty is very much adjustable. While you never loose you character, you can loose the all important items. You may experience a months setback as if there is a permanent death, but its your items/pets which die.
I wrote about "Skilling Items" half a year ago: blog.wolfspelz.de/2008/12/skilling-items.html
We are now exploring item skilling in the open virtual world project: openvirtualworld.blogspot.com
The Dilemma of Level vs Skill - How Old Became New Again
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