Leveling the playing field

[dageir]

I read a few posts about people complaining that its impossible to catch up with the more advanced players. Some pointed to the EVE-system with "safe" zones.
Im not sure how this suggestion will fly or if it even is good, but here it goes:
Once a character reaches a certain total in biles, lets say 500 (or another number) in combined amount of biles, the character starts to lose not just the soft points in biles, but hard points in biles over time if this character chooses to stay in non-darkness. If the person chooses to be in darkness, normal drain on soft biles applies as normal, but with the ability to glutton. (Maybe current mechanic needs some tweaking to make this possible.) This way advanced characters get an incentive to be in darkness and limit the visits to "civilized" areas. This might not make sense at all, but you could consider it some kind of "deadence"/gluttony/sloth punishment.

How big the drain shold be? I really dont know. Big enough to encourage being in darkness, small enough to make it possible to visit "Boston". Big enough to make it less attractive sieging noobs. Any thoughts?

(Putting on flame proof vest.)

[Champie4]

I don't want to interrupt your thread, but I have been considering an idea to "level the playing field" as well in a manner that might add more depth to character creation and make alt characters more inclusive in the process.

I haven't given full thought to all of the mechanics, nor have I even determined if it is a good idea, but I thought I would share it here, now.

Paradox Interactive's game Crusader Kings has a family tree and line of succession mechanic that I think would be very interesting in Salem. Let's say, for example, that a natural lifespan of a Salem character would be 12 months. Beginning the 8th month, a character's humors could be reduced to a maximum level (let's say 300) each month after maximum humors would be reduced by 50 with a maximum humor level of 100 at time of death.

Combine this mechanic with a line of succession/family tree/inheritance mechanic that allows the player to decide who is included (Writs of inheritance and Writs of Family Tree development/Writ of Surname?)

It's just a thought, destroy it at will

[Grichmann]

I support changes made in that direction, but at the moment, I can't suggest anything that will be suitable from my own perspective and satisfy the community at large. I will leave a major question you'll need to answer when designing such a system.

How long should a character's life cycle be?

[Dallane]

I read a few posts about people complaining that its impossible to catch up with the more advanced players.

Listening to anyone saying that is your 1st problem. Anyone can catch up in this game.

[Mereni]

I don't think this would work very well. If you can't gluttony, or live very well in the darkness because it's all now pemadrain, and you loose your humors fast enough in the light that it's discouraging to raid there, that pretty much kills raiding, doesn't it?

[dageir]

The current rate of drain in darkness might need a tweak as I said.

[Dallane]

The current rate of drain in darkness might need a tweak as I said.

Darkness hasn't really been touched other then the last criminal fix. Its going to get ALOT different "soon".

[MagicManICT]

The current rate of drain in darkness might need a tweak as I said.

Darkness hasn't really been touched other then the last criminal fix. Its going to get ALOT different "soon".

If you're referring to the promised creatures update, yeah. Darkness drain is still a mechanic that can get tweaked at any time if it is found to be unsatisfactory.

[Dallane]

The current rate of drain in darkness might need a tweak as I said.

Darkness hasn't really been touched other then the last criminal fix. Its going to get ALOT different "soon".

If you're referring to the promised creatures update, yeah. Darkness drain is still a mechanic that can get tweaked at any time if it is found to be unsatisfactory.

creatures, churches , witchcraft , etc

[bocage]

I don't like the idea of a life span. I am a weakling, but if my character survives a long time I am going to want to keep it. I do enjoy the game even though I am on the weak end. The need for even playing field for combat seems narrow minded. There are other aspects to the game. Explore biomes. Hunt animals. Build something cool. Be a merchant. Create a collection. Join forces.

That is the other problem with equal levels. When there is a level limit or similar mechanism then a group is always going to beat a single player, when after some time all the players besides the new ones are all at the same level cap.

More so than level caps or life span, I would like to see the playing field leveled by strategy and new content. Traps. Sneaking. Hidden Braziers, NPC Guards. Horses. Witchcraft Spells. Buried Chests. New Weapons and more variable damage per hit.

More ways for a single player and newer players to run, hide, hide objects, protect objects, raise defenses, and survive even though they are not the strongest character. It should still be feasible to be raided or killed, but more uncertainty and risk for the raider. I think it would be more fun for the raiders also if they had to scout, test defenses, uncover hidden defenses, and find hidden treasures rather than just counting the walls and braziers and knowing ahead of time the point at which they can roll over a place.