Aelryn Bloodmoon wrote: Mon Jul 02, 2018 6:31 pm
I really feel like the defensiveness of some posters here is an unwarranted reaction to very civilly given feedback on server design.
The first thread on this subject was anything but civil.
I should elaborate on the background of the writ system as it would be helpful for future discussion. There still seems to be misconceptions about design philosophies and why the system exists.
Prior to the writ system (and arguably even now), the most efficient way of gaining XP was circle-grinding. This was because XP gain was primarily through monster kills, and PC income was primarily through monster loot. The 'grind' consisted of maximizing kill speed while minimizing travel time. The 'circle' part came in as savvy players located several adjacent areas - preferably with accessible boss mobs - to loop through. By the time you've cleared the last area, the first area's monsters have refreshed.
Additionally, clear speed was prioritized over risk. Few things were as inefficient as a visit to the fugue. That is to say, the system encouraged PCs to stick to no-risk endeavors, even if that meant speed-killing enemies for single-digit XP rewards (inefficient but safe for suboptimal setups). This led to the unfortunate situation of higher-level PCs occupying lower-level zones.
This led to multiple issues. From an area builder's standpoint, much of the server's areas and variety of landscapes went to waste - dungeons that were inefficient were simply avoided, while the most efficient areas were camped for several levels until it was time to move to the next level range. From the standpoint of DMs trying to encourage roleplay and cooperative storytelling, the circle-grinding paradigm led to the opposite - grindspot camping and pvp over npc spawns. From a player's standpoint, the grind was an unfun, soul-killing activity. And when you ventured beyond the grind into more dangerous areas, there was a good chance of running into another PC that was much higher level than yours, treating the area as a grindspot.
Late 2017, Irongron approached me about implementing a system that rewarded dungeon completion over grinding. The basic idea was to shift incentives from mob-kills and to rewarding a party for finishing a discrete task - an 'adventure,' so to speak. The system had several objectives.
1) Expand the range of areas that a PC could visit and still feel like being properly rewarded for their time. Areas with a layout, puzzles, or traps that made them 'inefficient' from a circle-grind perspective could offer higher rewards for their completion.
2) Push PCs into taking level-appropriate risks rather than clogging lower-level areas. PCs should be encouraged to go on dangerous adventures, rather than mass-killing low-risk mobs.
3) Encourage spontaneous adventuring parties of similarly-leveled characters, in a better approximation of the ad hoc parties of traditional D&D, rather than have the leveling process dominated by coordinated grind squads.
The daily quest system (better known now as 'writs' due to the IG item used to interface with the coding infrastucture) accomplished this through objective-based tasks, rewards that scaled with the difficulty of those tasks, and defined level ranges to continually 'graduate' adventurers into those areas best suited for their current level. Further, the quest system was extremely forgiving in regard to forming parties and sharing objective completion - tracking goals individually so a PC can join or leave an association at will.
Given the system's objectives, it is clear why permitting higher level characters to 'boost' low-level characters goes against why writs were implemented in the first place, and why such activities cut against the entire balance of risk vs reward present in any RPG system.
To be clear, the quest system is a system of incentives. It does not prohibit or restrict behavior. It encourages - through the carrot of XP and gold - certain desirable behaviors. You are free to do different things; just don't expect to get the carrot.
This is why I am sympathetic to ideas that minimize the 'need' for OOC tells and coordination. (Though, as many players have pointed out - repeatedly - in this thread, it's actually not that hard to roleplay around game systems. Arelith PCs have been doing so for years, long before quests were even a thing.) I am also open to suggestions to smooth the level boundaries and make them less intrusive. However, any suggestion that writs should ignore levels altogether is a non-starter.
