Progression system

Attackroot · December 10, 2017

Introduction – Trouble in River City

Leveling up in most modern MMORPGs has become too easy, lessening the players’ sense of accomplishment
Typical theme-park style MMORPGs push players through their linear content too fast; players don’t have time to enjoy the world around them
Some modern MMORPGs’ streamlining actually increases the “grindy” feeling, due to constant progression feedback with little downtime
Players are encouraged to rush their way through the game, leveling quickly to get to the “end game” or to “cap out” their characters

As per the Kickstarter, we are designing our game so that players don’t reach the soft cap in a short period of time. Our slow but steady progression system uses individual stat and ability progression instead of generic EXP
Our mantra is “Use it to improve it!” If a player wants to get stronger, he must do things that increase his strength. This system enhances immersion by tying the players’ actions directly to their character
In Camelot Unchained, players gradually improve their performance by small amounts
Character progression in specific areas allows players to unlock access to new skills and ability components

Players receive their progression rewards based on a “Daily Report,” rather than instantaneously
At the end of each “game day”, players are rewarded with improvements to their character’s stats, skills, and abilities
Players even get bonus resources based on heroic achievements and defensive actions, such as guarding player caravans

Players improve a stat by performing actions that use that stat: Swinging a heavy sword increases your strength, allowing you to use heavier swords
Players increase proficiency with ability components by using abilities that contain them: Using Fire Ball increases proficiency with the Fire and Ball components
Players improve passive skills by using abilities that trigger their effects: A skill which reduces enemy fire resistance when a player deals fire damage becomes more effective through use of fire damage abilities

As per our Kickstarter campaign and updates, a small amount of vertical progression will reward players for using stats and skills
No hard limits! Stats, skills, and ability components have soft caps for progression, after which advancement slows considerably
Even with unlimited advancement, vertical progression is carefully designed so new players will always be competitive with veteran players

Each player gets an email (and/or in-game) report that shows what they accomplished during the last day’s play session. Everything that the player did is listed in the report: defending, killing, mining, building, crafting, destroying, and more!
You see a list of rewards that you earned from the game (stat and skill gains, new unlocks, etc.) and from the king of your Realm (gold, medals, honors, etc.)
The DR also shows the overall accomplishments of your Realm, its status (for example, the number of players that signed on), and other factors of the overall reward calculation
The DR shows only the aggregate reward, not the rewards for individual actions

Because rewards are daily instead of immediate, exploit detection is easier, and we can punish destructive behavior such as “Keep Trading” between Realms
Thus, rather than only caring about your own personal gains, you have an incentive to have fun, go where you want, and become a productive member of your Realm
The actions of every player within a Realm count toward the rewards of Realm-mates. Helping out your Realm-mates and cooperating to achieve goals means better rewards for everyone!

A daily email with server-specific and Realm-specific news keeps players in touch with the world
The Realm News will change every day, based on the Realm’s challenges and accomplishments
- Unlike the DR, this is focused on your Realm’s activities, and highlights some of the top players’ accomplishments during that cycle
The game’s story is not written ahead of time in a series of quests like a theme-park style game. Instead, the players are in control of their stories
News headlines recognize important events and player achievements in a more meaningful way than simple leaderboards

CSE’s experience point and progression systems are unique among MMORPGs and most, if not all, computer RPGs
By tying players’ actions directly to their progression in stats, abilities, etc., we add fun and increase immersion
The aggregation of data over 24 hours allows a very realistic snapshot of what occurred over that period, and advanced data mining brings scaling rewards based on that data
The progression system rewards players for playing the game as it was intended (no cross-realm Keep Trading), and rewards based not only on individual actions but those of the Realm