Zot Zealot
Posts: 982
Joined: Monday, 29th September 2014, 09:04
Skill training via 'skill points'
Rather than setting skills to train and then gaining levels, I propose that gaining experience gives "skill points" which can be spent to increase skill levels.
Basic design overview:
* Certain amount of XP gives a skill point, constant through the game
* When you earn a skill point, a log message is printed "You have earned three skill points (total: 6)."
* Skill points can be used to buy levels in skills
* Skill levels cost a variable number of points based on current level & aptitude (the same way as current)
* Skill points can be spent from the 'm' menu, which shows the cost of purchasing the next level of each skill
* You can either let skill points accumulate and spend them on-demand, or 'pre-order' skills, which will be purchased as soon as you have enough points.
Advantages over the current system:
* No more skill weighting micromanagement
* All players train one skill at a time (generally considered the preferred approach)
* No more accidental skill overtraining
* Makes the exponential cost of skill levels more visible to the player, improving their decision-making
* Encourage players to branch out ("I need save 200 skill points for armour 11, might as well put 7 points into throwing 3")
Disadvantages
* Automatic mode would need a big rework
* Some skill points would be lost due to rounding (say you need 3.1 skill points to reach the next skill level, the game will round the cost up to 4)
* The exponential nature of skill costs means skill point numbers will get very big by endgame
* Essentially makes XP numbers visible to the player
I think the last two disadvantages are the biggest problem.
People don't reason well with ridiculously large number ranges, and changing the skill xp system to be more constant/linear is a massive game balance change.
There are some systems that show fuzzy xp values now (oka piety gain, monster danger levels) but nothing like this level of accuracy. I'm not sure that accurate XP information is particularly useful outside the skill system though, and in fact it make make clearer the value in fighting/not fighting certain enemies (eg uniques).