Well I’m working on an anime character sim and as such character development is an important part of the game. So I want to know, what makes character development interesting for people? And what types of character development people are interested in exploring? Are small gradual rewards preferable to large leap style rewards? Do people prefer a stats screen that clearly shows the rate and level of improvement or would you rather those improvements be measured purely through action results. What other types of character development would people like try? The 4 basic types I can think of are: Story, Social, Stat, Accumulation, and Abilities, are there others?

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Original post by TechnoGoth What other types of character development would people like try? The 4 basic types I can think of are: Story, Social, Stat, Accumulation, and Abilities, are there others?

You should totally level up your math stat first. I don't care if it feels like a grind, you need it for the big leagues. [grin] On a side note, what about graphic/ style development. I think an open area is actually changing the look of the characters as you level up. Bigger beefier guys at higher levels, etc.

I quit WoW because one level didn't mean anything. Dinging 27 got me plus to stats and a talent point. That wont keep me going all the way to 28.

First off, do not use experience and leveling system. It might be the worst system for rewarding players - ever. It also does not make any sense, from a roleplaying point of view. Instead, there are a few alternatives as I see it:

* Assuming there will be many techniques apart from the original 'attack', have there be a skill in, say, swords. Set a nice max number, 200, 100, 50... whatever floats your boat. When you reach a certain number, you can go and train a new skill in that category (Weave, chop, pierce, what-have-you) and if you decide that sword is not your thing, and want to use an axe instead, perhaps some of the techniques are similiar. I'd suggest simply 'porting' them.

* Don't use numbers at all. A while after using a new weapon, it might say "You are getting better" and when you look at the status, it'll say "decent" instead of perhaps "newbie". Skills and techniques will come by themselves - no training needed.

* If you must use the leveling system, have it go fairly quick so that you will not get stuck, specially not if it's a single player game. That sucks. For the hardcore gamer, add some few superubergodly levels or whatever.

...or any combination of the few. Don't make it boring. Make it rewarding.