#like unless you’re adding a WILD amount of new features what does overhauling it even DO

[nebulous-nevermore]

im actually going to commit crimes with this new discord layout it sucks. and i hate that every article that i looked up trying to see if i could get the old layout back was trying to hype up how good these changes are for the service and how wonderful it is that we’re moving forwards. NO you lukewarm refrigerator i specifically looked up how to go back!!! why can’t i even just have the option to use the old layout. like if people want the new layout fine whatever but why not just??? make it a new option??

[writingonjorvik]

Can We Discuss Adding A Level Cap?

So I’ve talked about SSO’s leveling a number of times, and there are more than a few examples of my thoughts on it, combined with the way it influences the stat system. Just as a few:

Can We Discuss Why SSO Needs More Higher Levels?

Can We Discuss How To Make SSO a Better RPG?

Can We Discuss the “Speed Is the Best Stat” Attitude?

Can We Discuss: Can We Discuss Breed Specific Abilities?

Can We Discuss: Can We Discuss Why Clothes Don’t Need Stats?

However, I wanted to talk about a different approach to this system that might help resolve a lot of the issues, while also moving SSO into a more interactive direction. And that would be putting a level cap on the game and moving to a prestige level/masteries system.

So I’m going to be talking a lot about Guild Wars 2, because I think they have an amazing masteries system and one of those systems is entirely based around mounts. And while I don’t think SSO should or can just emulate that system straight into their game, I do think it’s a good framework to look at for prestige levels compared to how other games handle it.

In GW2, after you reach level 80, the game switches to a mastery system. There’s still story, but instead of continuing to level, you gain access to several mastery trees that give you special abilities, like crafting legendary weapons, learning how to navigate the jungle, and in Path of Fire’s expansion, mounts. I think there’s a lot to be said about GW2′s mounts and how in a lot of ways they do it better than SSO, but that’s an entirely different topic. Masteries work like levels, but you can choose which one to work on/where experience you earn will go to pick which skills you want to work on. Further, in order to gain those skills, you have to complete special achievements to “buy” the skill after you’ve earned the experience. Points can be earned from simply completing the story, by meditating at special and difficult to reach locations, or by hunting down special quests. Additionally, when you complete all masteries, you start gaining a special currency for the game.

Now, this does a lot of things for the game. For the most part, you only have to earn the first level of a mastery to progress the story, meaning you can choose when you continue your additional mastery tracks. This adds a lot to giving you continued objectives in the game. It also caps out all the stats in the game, meaning there is, for the majority, a max level any one class can have in any stats. This can make balancing the game a lot easier since you’re not always having to rebalance the game for new levels and power levels. Additionally, it moves the game away from getting stronger, and into becoming smarter, creating new unique ways to play the game and interact with the world, which I would argue is more engaging content.

I particularly like how they handle mount masteries. Mounts all have unique ways of movement, but they also have unique acquisition methods too. Some you get from completing the story. Others have long quest chains to build saddles for them, or raise them from their eggs. The focus after you get the mount though is still centered around building a bond with your creature, unlocking special abilities that that mount alone can do.

This is why I think GW2′s system is way better for SSO than say looking at FFXIV or WoW, which just move their level caps with new expanions. SSO already doesn’t have combat, but it does have a broken stat system. Capping the stats would mean moving SSO in a direction where they can theoretically spend less time on balancing competitions (though there still needs to be a serious overhaul to be a good base), and into interacting with the world in more unique ways, which fits much better with SSO’s exploration focus. 

It also would help with the experience gap between new players and old players, like myself, who have had access to experience pools no one will ever be able to access again from old quests. This can help close the level gap. And it also means SSO can reprogram quests to actually give good experience amounts again to make the player feel like they’re making genuine progress.

But what would it look like?

So this is obviously speculation, but I have some suggestions. I’ve made two mock-up mastery systems for the two major areas of the game: the player’s powers and horses. And there are a couple things that would need to happen for these to work, but they both pair with one of the tracks, so I’ll discuss those first and then their corresponding track. 

The Wheel of the Year/octagon track focuses on the player’s ability. Now, obviously there needs to be a level cap to start this. I’d recommend player level 20, since 21 and 22 are kinda achieved just through, well, at least 50% from event exp, which like I said, is no longer achievable for new players. It’s also closer to the current horse level and as a D&D nerd, I like level 20. I also think level cap should represent in this case an above average skill level. Like, by level 20, you are basically an Olympian rider in skill level and a basic intent in magic.

The track itself would focus on moving past that “human” level of understanding, moving into the almost supernatural abilities the player should be developing in narrative. So there are skills to make races more interesting, which would help when more competition types are added, but basically this is along the lines of the abilities and special skills SSO has teased before, like the straight to gallop leap or immediate recoveries from failed jump, so on. Meanwhile, the Druid Circle tracks represent magic abilities we should be gaining as Aideen’s Chosen, so things like learning Soul Strike or being able to open Pandoria portals wherever, so on. I personally think if we got a full Pandoria map the size of Silverglade or something, it should be a survival focus map to help emphasize the whole dangerous magic aspect, but building these masteries could open ways to survive in that magic. On this system, little circles are passive abilities, like reducing cool downs on skills or boosting stats passively, where as big circles are actual active abilities. This should obviously vary to match each system, but there’s a lot of flexibility in this system and working these skills together, either with branches extending further out, or inbetween.

The second track is based on the Tree of Life, and it’s focused on the Wild Whisperer abilities and horses, since that seems to operate outside the other circle magics. Now, in order for this to work, SSO needs to expand the number of horses we can get in story, either for free or for a nominal shilling cost (talked about this in the Star Coin bloat conversation). I think this would also help balance the more premium cost of horses, because at least there’s a base option with any special abilities horses may have, more along the lines of weather resistant horses right now, unless special abilities were to become a part of dressage or something for bonus points. It also could help expand the “Soul Steed” system from it having to be the starter, to it being just horses for Aideen’s Chosen, because, well, supposed to be connected to all horses. This could open up more players being able to choose their actual Soul Steed, since not everyone wants to play the story with their starter.

This track would focus on expanding the abilities of those special abilities horses have. It could also make SSO’s map design way more inventive if they give all players an easy option to enter all these play styles. Imagine maps designed with super narrow areas, where there are still roads anyone can travel through, but also taking a pony through it will give you access to bonus secret areas from ducking into those tight and narrow corners. Or the inverse, traversing a canyon, and being able to leap off your a larger draft horse to high ledges and explore from there. SSO also toyed with this when the first Frisians came out around Midsummers, where there were branches you could grab without jumping on a bigger horse. I think a great addition to this would be that the standard/starter horse does become a kinda catch all, with some modified version of all of these abilities, particularly if there’s a shilling cost, or that there’s some kind of temporary stat system.

A feature I’ve seen a lot of players asking for is the starter to be a cold resistant horse, which I think would work well in this system. I think it also opens the option of potions that give temporary abilities, like the Tonic of Warming to negate the cold, or the Potion of Flying for boosting up off of your horse, as well as more expensive tack sets to equip that will give the horse wearing it the abilities of the starter and the horse with the ability a boosted one. It could still be linked back to this system, where leveling up the track even if you don’t like the free horse for it, you can still play with another horse you do like, or to combo abilities to explore the map in new and exciting ways.

Obviously, this would be a huge overhaul of the system, but I think it would mean the devs could move into a more interesting design for leveling than before, and could seriously expand what a new map in SSO means. For one, it opens all of the possibilities of the skills in a base overhaul, but moving forward, it means new ways to explore the maps and relearn the game with new abilities.