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Voodooextreme serves us the second part of their interview with David Allen from Pharaoh Productions about their upcoming single player/multiplayer RPG Dominion. Here's a slice of the meat:
VE: Tell us more about player advancement -- or more precisely dynamic character progression and regression. Give us a definition of the terminology, how it affects gameplay and the advantage of this kind of system. Also, tell us more about level-based stat and skill progression system and the other key element a dynamic distribution system that directly relates to actions that the player takes.
David Allen: We actually will not have ‘regression’ per se – at least not from not taking actions. The only way characters will be drained of stats, skills, or abilities will be to be drained by a creature, or to have a cursed item in their possession (in that case it’s temporary).
Players will be able to build their character abilities dynamically through action. For example, if the player has a sword and decides to use that sword in combat, and execute specialized sword attacks, there’s a good chance their sword ability will slowly raise during the use of the sword and specialized attacks – and possibly stats associated with the use of a sword – Strength and Dexterity.
When a player makes a level in a guild, they are given a certain number of ‘points’ that they can distribute into their characters statistics – this is the secondary support mechanism for building a character.
I chose this route because it’s the best of both worlds – you can build your character through action, and have ‘bonus’ points for making levels.
The advantage to this system is it more reflects the way the character is played instead of planned. If a character is always fighting with their sword, when the player looks at their character’s statistics in order to distribute gained points from making levels, they’ll say "look at my swordsmanship – cool! I’m going to X." This is different from a point-based non-dynamic system where players look at their stats and say "what did I plan to raise next?" (insert head scratch here)
Dynamic progression serves as a supportive foundation for bonus stat distribution, and it directly reflects the way in which the character is played. |
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Dominion Interview Part 2 at VE
