This release is looking good! We will almost certainly have it out on time.
Erich and I discussed this mechanic I came up with this morning, and we're really excited about it! Let's just jump in:
PVP damage is multiplied by a factor based on the ratio of the attacked to attacker's level
So here's an example: a level 20 attacks a level 40 and does 2x base damage. A level 40 attacks a level 20 and does 1/2 base damage.
The actual formula is: damage defender takes = (5 + defender's level) / (5 + attacker's level)
The 5+... ensures that a level 1 attacking a level 100 doesn't do 100x damage, only 20x damage. In fact, it's for this reason that the "introductory levels" were all collected into 1 set: from levels 1-5, you will not drop any items on death and your PVP damage doesn't work this way--it works normally. So level 4 attacking level 80 does a level 4's damage (nothin'). A level 10, however, can be killed by the level 80--but will do 85/15 = 560% normal damage.
Now here's where the magic works: that ratio seems huge, right? Well, if you use the actual DPS numbers we came up with, that amount is only 30% of the dps a level 80 does to another level 80--so it's significantly weaker, but not so much so that a level 80 could just sit around not caring that a whole guild of level 10's are attacking him! (In the reverse case--80 attacking 10--the level 80 does about 350% of a normal level 10's DPS, so he's still much stronger. However, he's not impossibly strong)
So, this also affects our defense equations: the "correct" amount of armor at any level now gives 20% damage reduction to attacks *from* any level. A level 100 with 2k armor gets the same damage reduction as a level 20 does with 400 armor.
What are the results of all this?
- Guilds are now even more important: having a band of friends that know how to fight together is better than having a band that is high level
- PVPing isn't limited just to high levels: you can PVP within a *much* larger level range, and enjoy doing so at any level. If you don't want to grind your character, you can participate in guild events without any problems.
- PVE combat is still based on level: you need to be higher level to explore harder dungeons. Since monster damage isn't level-adjusted in the same way, low level players will still get pwned by high-level dungeons.
- Levels give you access to cool new stuff, but they don't matter as much as how you build your character
- Epic items are truly *epic*. If an epic item does 200% of the dps that it should for the minimum level that can equip it, that player will be uber powerful when using that item. Think of our level 10 going after the level 80--he will be doing nearly 70% of the level 80's dps, and will be a force to be reckoned with.
Phew! I hope this mechanic works, it could really unlock a lot of potential in this game.
Now, for a list of stuff I've done:
- enchantments work
- items can now have on-death effects (such as a resurrecting heal!)
- resurrection commands should work
- added "wishing" property to items: wishing ring = add 20% to chance not to drop equipment on death. if player wears 5 wishing rings, they will never drop items--but they're filling 5 ring slots with something that doesn't add to their hp/mp/dps/defense
2 comments:
The damage adjustment sounds like a good idea. We may have to adjust the ratio to favor higher levels a bit more, but let's see it in action first.
This will make it much more important to have levels differentiate by "cool" more than by power: cooler dungeons, cooler spells, cooler items ... also things like craft ability (or a prop system as a substitute) or other economic/non-level-based forms of interaction are going to become very important.
Furthermore, if level will be less important in PvP, should we think of actually giving out XP for PvP kills? (or maybe just for the first kill/day?) ... I know there are a whole heap of problems with this, but it seems to me that if we're taking the emphasis off levels, it makes grinding PVE that much more boring and pointless.
So we need to introduce more interesting ways to level: the XP geosids are a great way to help this; perhaps award XP for the successful take-over of another guild's geosid? (of course this would have to be balanced by taking XP away from the other guild); give XP for crafting/propping?; quests (especially location-based quests) are going to be important; but perhaps most important will be dungeons.
You see where I'm going with this: give XP out like candy for things a player *accomplishes*.
Also, why the "wishing ring"? Is this just a good way to avoid having to have a magic bag item?
Will this be a prop like other props?
Will there be a max percent chance, or will everybody eventually walk around with 100% not to drop on death?
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