The New One-sided Invasion

VandaMan · 03-31-2013, 02:09 AM

In my opinion randomness is a necessary element of an MMORPG. At its roots, Regnum (and basically all other online RPGs) come from tabletop gaming, which of course use dice to simulate randomness. We're playing an extension of this genre, and I don't think removal of this sort of system (in a broad sense) would make the game any more fun. The randomness in itself really isn't the problem anyway. The problem is that the system lacks transparency, and gives very little room for intentional manipulation by players.

By transparency I mean that if you were playing a tabletop game, or one of several other online games, you know the exact formula that determines whether a spell lands or or not. You know which of your stats is rolled against which of your enemies stats, where these stats come from, and also which gear and buffs modify these numbers and how. An informed player can look at his or her character, the enemy character, and the spell being cast and know the exact rate of success. This in itself opens up possibilities in character customization, because once the system is transparent, characters can be built to take advantage of whichever mechanics they choose.

Taking advantage of mechanics may not sound like a good thing, but in a game built and balanced properly, there would always be a tradeoff. RO, unfortunately, does not leave room for this sort of manipulation even if the mechanics were known to us, as almost all of our stat points are allocated automatically based on class. Furthermore, I suspect (but do not know) that the actual impact of the amount of stat points you have, on resist rates, is rather small; the portion of your resist rate that is constant is very large in comparison to the portion modified by it's governing attribute.

For these reasons, the resist system seems incredibly frustrating, even though at it's foundation it is nearly the same as the resist system of any other game. It's actually quite "fair," but due to our lack of knowledge on how it works and inability to manipulate it, we perceive it otherwise. The truth is that it being unfair is a non-issue; the real problem is that it's boring and one dimensional.

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03-31-2013, 02:09 AM	#20
VandaMan Baron Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 747	In my opinion randomness is a necessary element of an MMORPG. At its roots, Regnum (and basically all other online RPGs) come from tabletop gaming, which of course use dice to simulate randomness. We're playing an extension of this genre, and I don't think removal of this sort of system (in a broad sense) would make the game any more fun. The randomness in itself really isn't the problem anyway. The problem is that the system lacks transparency, and gives very little room for intentional manipulation by players. By transparency I mean that if you were playing a tabletop game, or one of several other online games, you know the exact formula that determines whether a spell lands or or not. You know which of your stats is rolled against which of your enemies stats, where these stats come from, and also which gear and buffs modify these numbers and how. An informed player can look at his or her character, the enemy character, and the spell being cast and know the exact rate of success. This in itself opens up possibilities in character customization, because once the system is transparent, characters can be built to take advantage of whichever mechanics they choose. Taking advantage of mechanics may not sound like a good thing, but in a game built and balanced properly, there would always be a tradeoff. RO, unfortunately, does not leave room for this sort of manipulation even if the mechanics were known to us, as almost all of our stat points are allocated automatically based on class. Furthermore, I suspect (but do not know) that the actual impact of the amount of stat points you have, on resist rates, is rather small; the portion of your resist rate that is constant is very large in comparison to the portion modified by it's governing attribute. For these reasons, the resist system seems incredibly frustrating, even though at it's foundation it is nearly the same as the resist system of any other game. It's actually quite "fair," but due to our lack of knowledge on how it works and inability to manipulate it, we perceive it otherwise. The truth is that it being unfair is a non-issue; the real problem is that it's boring and one dimensional.