Re: exp system

From: Stephen Arnold (dalamar@CYBERCOM.NET)
Date: 10/03/97


>         Well the real root of the problem is that stock circlemud is totally
> unbalanced.

        I totally agree on  this.

>         When I think about it, if a npc and a pc at the same level and
> armor class fight, then it should be give or take.  Fight could go either
> way, namely comming down to say under 15% of hp.  Of course, this means
> calculating how much damage a pc of a particular level/class can do on
> average and making many assumptions as to how long a battle will take, etc.
>
>         If it's done right, then it's simple to build according to your
> new guidelines.  If you want your area to be for pc's of levels 7-10, just
> populate it with npc's from 7-10.  Since this fuction would for the most
> part be linear (except for a few spikes at levels when chars gain abilities
> like fireball/3rd attack) you might be able to assume that if you put in a
> level 15 npc, it would take two level 7-8 chars to defeat them in tandem.

        The above 2 paragraphs is EXACTLY how we handled it in my MUD.
First, we balanced the 4 classes, so that a 30th level cleric, mage or
thief would usually be able to hold there own against a 30th level
fighter.
        Once that was done (actually, its never done if you keep
implementing new skills/spells, but its the best way to start), we made a
level 1 mob and adjusted its stats against a level 1 char, so that a
majority of the time, the char would just BARELY win. We did this for all
our 50 levels, taking into account what spells/skills were given when, and
the average EQ that someone of said level would have (this is tough, but
just have to take a rough average). It i harder to account for groups (ie,
a MOB level 40 being attacked by 2 level 20 chars, will usually win
because that MOB is geared for a char with higher skills/spells which
level 20 would not have access to). But its not totally unbalanced. All in
all this works very well.

>         I'd love not to see level 34 npc's with 30,000+ hp, when pc's gain
> a 5-10 a clip usually ;)

        Yep, When a MUD has that, something has fallen a little out of
whack.

>         All in all, the solution isn't to beef up the npc's or penalise the
> pc's.  It's really to come up with a sensible scheme in the first place and
> then stick to it.
>
> -jac

        Well said.
                                                #include <Ryan.G>


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