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"Should max-level characters give account XP bonuses?"
Lord_Athon
Member UncommonPosts: 165
I was reading in Massivelly and found this article by Jef Reahard
It's about top level "chars" give a %xp bonus for other account "chars". I think this is a great idea. Didn't knew about it, and dont know any other game that got this feature.
Comments
Games that are just 'instance grinders' (EQ2 / Rift / WoW / etc) where you wait in queue and aut-teleport through cross-server LFG tool - maybe it is not bad idea. Maybe.
In all other mmorpg's - Bad idea.
People don't enjoy playing games anymore it seems, its all about rushing and i want it now. if you're not enjoying the game as it was intended then maybe you shouldn't be playing it.
I'm saying this should be as an option. If i enjoy some areas of the game, i can turn it off. But on others, and where the leveling is a bit "painfull", why not?!
i don't see why you couldn't include ALL mmorpgs to have this feature. You spent the time learning the game to max level on one toon, why not have a little added bonus for your other toons? You know you are going to spend most of your time in that game at max level anyway....
Been in EQ2 for a couple years now, however it was only early LAST year that they doubled all exp benefits across the board. Meaning xp potions that only gave 10% now give 20%, and it bumped the veteran bonus from 10 to 20. So, all in all, it really isn't something people think about.
Seriously, you'd have to buy extra character slots, and have 10 toons @ 90 to get that 200% though. Even then, it's not REALLY that noticable when grinding AA's either. Ever since they removed RAF from EQ2 this really hasn't been something people are interested in anymore
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Only if the leveling is terrible in your game, and if that's the case ... why are you playing it?
If the leveling is fun, there should never be an xp boost that would trivialize the leveling process.
Originally I wanted to say that I think a better choice would be to deemphasize the endgame and make leveling more enjoyable. If your game makes leveling a mandatory grind before the "real" game starts, then of course people are going to hate it and want to get rid of it.
But I don't think there's one answer here. I think it depends on the game. If your game by design treats leveling as a tutorial before the real game starts, then why shouldn't there be some method to bypass it?
I appreciate the desire to have a long leveling experience and a sense of accomplishment, but if your guild needs you to play a healer for raiding, why should it take a long time and put everything on hold while you try to get one to max level?
Though I would say I think there's opportunities to think outside the box here and try different approaches like multispeccing, classlessness or maybe even sidekicking which might also solve the problem. Why not even go a step further and say that if you have a max level character, you can buy another one of a different class in a cash shop for $30 rather than take two months to level one? I'm kind of amazed Blizzard hasn't implemented this already...
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
If the problem is that the leveling process is horrible, then that makes the game bad, and this can't fix it.
I'm not necessarily opposed to saying that if you have a lot of alts, your alts level faster. But this is a terrible way to structure it. It is built to mainly benefit people who play one main and get it to the cap quickly, then another main and get it to the cap quickly, and so forth. It doesn't actually benefit people who like to play alts. The reason for this is that, even though they've played enough to get three characters to the cap, it's spread across so many characters that none are at the cap.
So as it's structured, I'd say it's a way to try to convince people who don't like playing alts is that the game is alt-friendly, without actually making it alt-friendly. Because SOE doesn't do alt-friendly. It's a marketing gimmick, not a game mechanic.
I did hit 90 on one character in EQ2 and that's about the time I quit the game. I tried to level up another character but only got to around 65 before I got bored from doing the same exact content with that character. It's the same with leveling up tradeskills, which are worse in my opinoin(no variety whatsoever, just hitting the same buttons over and over again), you just grind, grind, grind. I know someone that got all of their tradeskillers up to 90 this way but I could barely do that with one, let alone two. I got really burnt out and left the game.
I like the idea of giving an xp boost, but only if you aren't forced to doing the same exact content with your alts as you were with the main. (Yes, I know there is so much content that you could skip some with a main and go back to it with an alt, but it's really the same kind of content that it's just a slightly different setting)
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Definitely makes a lot of sense for many games (non-MMO RPGs too.)
WOW's implementation I thought was really solid (grind Bind to Account gear on your high level character to give to your new alt, and the gear provides a pretty solid XP bonus.)
Just generally speaking, the ability to turn up the difficulty on the second playthrough (at the benefit of faster progression) is something MMORPGs really need to consider. Hell, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do it on the first playthrough too.
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I really don't think so, unless the game is that focused upon end game. Issue with max level bonuses is the fact that you basically giving a player 'less' content by speeding up what they do. Your effectively shortening the game experience they would witness otherwise. It could be done in a way that provides a small boost if you have a max level or something, but if your doing it to much, your just giving your game less gameplay time. Its not a big deal again if the game wants to focus its content on 'end game' but if your wanting leveling as part of the experience, you can't be rushing people through it that much faster.
People who play lots of alts already have an acceleration factor in many MMORPGs: Rested XP.
Definitely if leveling is horrible, then the game is bad. But of course the point of faster leveling isn't to fix that, it's to fix the fact that no matter how good leveling is it's going to be less good the more you repeat it.
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Yes, that was a classic example of not fully considering the impact of adding a convenience feature like this that the exisiting player base favored.
Increasing the pace of leveling would be preferable at least it would keep new characters in the lower tiers for a little while.
But hey, most games have such a short level grind, when Cata came out I got a Warrior up to 90 in like 6 days played (vs 16 days played for my level 50 Paladin at launch) why bother with experience bonuses.
Now in a grinder like Lineage 2 (which still has a heck of a grind on it from level 76 onwards) it might make some sense, even EQ 2 is a pretty long climb to 90 so I suppose that title might make sense, but they are old school games, these new titles I can't really see it.
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In extremely linear games like TOR this would be cool.
the problem, is how Levels are done. I will use WoW and Skyrim as an example of my logic, since most people can relate to the two games.In Skyrim, the contents scale around the player level, except for a few areas. Levels give player more stats, and allow them to cast higher rank spells and such. But if the player has the stats already, than they don't need to level to use them. Everything in the game world can be done at low levels, except a few things.
now take WoW for example. In WoW the contents in the game is restricted by player levels. Let's use Vanilla WoW in this example, because I don't know how current WoW is. Well as a level 1 character, can I use a mount? Nope. Can I get all my spells at level 1? Nope. Can I join a BG like Old AV as a level 1? Nope! Can I join a raid dungeon at level 1?No!!!! Can I even join a dungeon at level 1 at all? Nope!!!
see how in the WoW example, the player is stricted from certain features because of their level, while in Skyrim, the level only effects the power of the player, not the features they have access to.
When features are restricted by levels, this makes players want to get to the needed level as fast as possible, so that they can have the freedom to play what they want. Which this point is usually called (MAX LEVEL)! a max level in WoW has acess to the most content of all compared to a low level player.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
There is this belief that because an idea would be popular that means it would be good for the game. /level is a good example of that. Players complained about travel times in games and are now complaining that games are lobby games. What's a dev to do?
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You've pointed out the major flaws of MMOs. The majority of content is at max level, so that is indeed why people rush. They need to spread content out beginning from level 1. The player should want to take his time and enjoy the world his character is in.
I miss the days of FFXI and leveling taking awhile, but you don't mind it cause its enjoyable and always something to do.
As far as this topic goes, bad idea imo. If your game needs a system like this, they know its flawed. So they try to rush everyone to max level as fast as possible so they can play the content they are putting out.
I totally agree with you i miss the days where people having to earn there things and just not given to them on a platter, unfortunaly everyone wants those shineys.. the WoW affect is killing MMO's and every developer seems to be following suit.. it seems there listening to the wingers to cause there the ones giving there money over... to the OP i dont like the idea cause it just making MMO's even more casual but wateva each to there own
This makes me sad, its like saying "you played through halo campaign once...so next time around they only have BB guns" I mean you've already done the content once.
What happened to playing games for FUN.
you're not having fun? go do something else!, look at pron, go ride a bike. say "hi" to your wife...freaking make a cow out of jelly beans....do SOMETHING. But continueing to play a game after the "fun factor" is done...is stupid,
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This makes me sad, its like saying "you played through halo campaign once...so next time around they only have BB guns" I mean you've already done the content once.
What happened to playing games for FUN.
you're not having fun? go do something else!, look at pron, go ride a bike. say "hi" to your wife...freaking make a cow out of jelly beans....do SOMETHING. But continueing to play a game after the "fun factor" is done...is stupid,
Problem is that most of the fun is done as a max level player/high level player, which has acess to the most contents. In Vanilla WoW, if the only thing I liked was Old AV, but I liked it greatly, I would want to play different classes in it. Problem is, I can only play Old AV as a level 51+. This means I have to grind 51 levels to get to a feature that I find enjoyable. Yeah that's an extreme example, but the point is still made.Philosophy of MMO Game Design
I have only experienced this bonus in EQ2 and to be honest I didn't mind the boost at all. There is a system that allows you to counter the xp increase by throttling back your xp and increasing your AA xp. I don't think this system would work for all types of games but only a handful of games that have an alternative leveling path such as the AA system. Games with small game worlds or unpopulated lower level zones may benefit from this (older games that are top heavy community wise).
Hey guys, sometimes the fun is in the leveling up, and sometimes is on the cap-lvl. So what's the problem?! In these forums there are allways some neo-radicals expressing that only their opinion counts and who has a diferent one is wrong. Maybe they are wrong. ^-^
imo, as someone replied before, there are games wich the lvling is so great (for me) that i still remember those funny moments with my toon(s)
, on other games even great the lvling but the cap-lvl shows what the game really is. This allready happened to me.
About the structure of the lvling, this is another thing. It should concerns not only about the lvl itself and skills, but the gear, weapons, rings, earings, necklaces and other stuff. I'm talking about that these features shouldn't be bind to the char, and be upgradeable, if the game has 99 lvls, so on the lvl20 i must be doing something that is important when i reach the caplvl.
About the craft, normally in the actual games, makes sense only when you reach the top lvl, never before, because the lvling is too much quick.
I don' t care for the idea od xp bonus, but the premise is sound and has been used in several MMOs already - allowing perks or extras for new characters once at least one character has reached a certain level.
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WoW implements this with gear; you can buy gear for your alts that gives XP bonuses on kills. I think overall, it's not a bad idea. It encourages people to roll alts and to play longer which is a good thing for the games. Plus it makes people feel like they're getting something extra for being a customer.
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