User blog:Lord Kairos/Progression

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh progression. One of the most difficult things to balance in an MMO.

Progression is, without a doubt, the most important concept to keep in mind when designing this game. It doesn't get the glory of combat or narrative, but is crucial to pacing the game and must keep in mind all elements of the game, such as to not make an aspect of Tchaan irrelevant. We've already had a few discussions about this, so I'm here to give an update of how to have the player progress throughout the game.

An MMO generallly uses a long term leveling system to help keep the player retain the feeling of character improvement and to prevent the player from accessing all areas of the world at once. Guild Wars 2 (from what I know) focuses on a grind to level 80 before the player has the ability to wander about the full world. In fact, the game further emphasizes the difference between levels by using a combat system deemed "glancing". Glancing means that a player will do less damage to a mob that is a higher level to them. This means that, in addition to the higher resistances and health a mob has, the mob will only receive ten percent of the damage they were meant to. In Tchaan, I hope to avoid these types of conditions.

As such, we've decided to have a system of an expanding skill tree. That is to say: rather a traditional skill tree where you get skills by spending skill points, which you get by leveling, you would instead complete quests to gain these skills. Skill lines could then correspond to quest lines, leading an almost narrative experience when you attempt to perfect your build. Players could look over the skill tree and plan a series of quests they have to complete to get the skills you want, rather than aimlessly grinding to level up. Essentially, players would go on a personal world roadtrip to achieve the perfect build, combining the drive for character customization and quest completion.