Hello, I am trying to work through a design where there is no central server for character persistence, only a central server list (like fps games), but i would like the characters to be persistent on a per server basis (if enabled on server). the idea behind this is that each server can run their own "campaigns" and your character can obtain new gear and weapons available on that server. the game can also host straight team versus matches as well, where everyone will be running with standardized gear for that particular server. so the question is, how do you think it will affect the players feelings about server hopping and having the gear (and possibly play style) differ from server to server using the same base character they've created for themselves. It may not be an issue at all and players will be aware of where they are playing and know what gear they have, but if you hop from server to server (counter-strike style) where some may have persistence and some not...it may get a little confusing.. I hope the explanation is clear enough, i'd like to hear some of your ideas. thanks

Actually, you should look at Wolfenstein Enemy Territory. What the game did was add in some RPG elements, so the longer you played on the server, the more things you unlock in terms of your ability to use the weapons you got, or specialized skills for the classes you were using.

You always started out as a basic character, but it gave players a reason to hold different map points longer, or play through multiple campaigns on servers - games could last hours if the player wanted to stick around.

thanks for the input, there are a few games which do this, or at least have mods which do this, i want to go a step further and have persistence on the server for all time rather than per session. Nothing comes to mind, maybe NWN or something? and mmo's. I was thinking i'd like to find the balance between MMO and instant action sort of play.