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Development Ideas - Feedback / Re: Implementing Epic Levels
« on: July 18, 2020, 02:58:44 pm »
First of all, I wanna say that I 100% agree with having to App for a character as they move into Epic levels, as they represent a change in tone and scale for a character's story. It's a very good idea for DMs and players to be on the same page as to where a character is going in regards to roleplay, and the transition to epic levels is the perfect cutoff for that to happen. It won't be every day that a character makes the leap, and making it special feels GOOD.
You know what doesn't feel good? Having control taken away from you. There is a big difference between collaborating with players to bring their story to a natural conclusion and someone's story coming to an unexpected halt for something they had no control over. Netheril's strength is in the connection the players have with major story events, and seeing the world change as a result of their actions. There is nothing about introducing the threat of Permadeath, epic or not, that is going to improve that advantage.
Putting epic levels behind a permadeath risk is a huge turn off for some players. It's akin to putting epic levels behind a paywall-I'll say it again for those in the back: USING PERMADEATH TO GATE PROGRESS IS THE SAME AS USING MONEY. Sure, some people are willing to pay the price to increase the mechanical power of their characters, but it feels just as dirty to those who cannot and will not.
I noticed a partial option in the polls, that only PvP deaths would count against your Lives- I have seen this work well on other servers, with the following caveat: PvP MUST be agreed upon by both parties. Some players live for the thrill of challenge and risk- that's absolutely okay, and I feel this compromise would allow the people that WANT that to find it with other like-minded individuals. What is absolutely NOT okay, is bullying. If consent is not required by PvP, some players will inevitably build a mechanically strong character to abuse others, and once it happens, that means every other player needs to build around that threat or just accept that their character can be taken away at any moment if one of the powergamers decides it. The absence of Consent has just as many problems IG as it does IRL.
A lot of players have strong views on this subject, and that's to be expected. In the end, I think the system that allows for the most player choice is the one that is best for the server, and from the list of options, that's probably the middle ground of PvP deaths counting towards character deletion. It lets the players that are interested in the risk involve themselves with others who also do, and for those that don't there isn't any unwanted predatory behavior.
Update after reading some of the other posts: If you feel the need to kill off characters so that they will constantly reroll to have lower-level people playing, you are going to steadily lose your playerbase. Players that want to finish their character arcs and move on to something new are just as valid as those that want to keep a veteran character around and tell more stories with it. Netheril should be a place where people WANT to keep telling their stories, not a place where they keep getting their stories cut short when someone else decides they are bored with you.
You know what doesn't feel good? Having control taken away from you. There is a big difference between collaborating with players to bring their story to a natural conclusion and someone's story coming to an unexpected halt for something they had no control over. Netheril's strength is in the connection the players have with major story events, and seeing the world change as a result of their actions. There is nothing about introducing the threat of Permadeath, epic or not, that is going to improve that advantage.
Putting epic levels behind a permadeath risk is a huge turn off for some players. It's akin to putting epic levels behind a paywall-I'll say it again for those in the back: USING PERMADEATH TO GATE PROGRESS IS THE SAME AS USING MONEY. Sure, some people are willing to pay the price to increase the mechanical power of their characters, but it feels just as dirty to those who cannot and will not.
I noticed a partial option in the polls, that only PvP deaths would count against your Lives- I have seen this work well on other servers, with the following caveat: PvP MUST be agreed upon by both parties. Some players live for the thrill of challenge and risk- that's absolutely okay, and I feel this compromise would allow the people that WANT that to find it with other like-minded individuals. What is absolutely NOT okay, is bullying. If consent is not required by PvP, some players will inevitably build a mechanically strong character to abuse others, and once it happens, that means every other player needs to build around that threat or just accept that their character can be taken away at any moment if one of the powergamers decides it. The absence of Consent has just as many problems IG as it does IRL.
A lot of players have strong views on this subject, and that's to be expected. In the end, I think the system that allows for the most player choice is the one that is best for the server, and from the list of options, that's probably the middle ground of PvP deaths counting towards character deletion. It lets the players that are interested in the risk involve themselves with others who also do, and for those that don't there isn't any unwanted predatory behavior.
Update after reading some of the other posts: If you feel the need to kill off characters so that they will constantly reroll to have lower-level people playing, you are going to steadily lose your playerbase. Players that want to finish their character arcs and move on to something new are just as valid as those that want to keep a veteran character around and tell more stories with it. Netheril should be a place where people WANT to keep telling their stories, not a place where they keep getting their stories cut short when someone else decides they are bored with you.