Skill Knowledge - Degrade over time if not in use

[Mordecai]

Can I have some feedback on this idea:
Issue:

• There are a lot of skills people don't use regularly, if at all.
• WIS as a stat is under utilised.
• Many old players have an unbalanced advantage because of their skills, namely GM's.
• People don't know how to use all the skills they have anyway.

Concept example:
a timestamp can be added to skills to record the last time they were used in the code.

If a skill goes unused for a week (or alternatively, a certain number of hours online), you loose between 1 and 7% learned in that skill.
The amount that you lose would be dependant on your WISDOM.
Where: 22 WIS = 1% loss and 15 WIS or less = 7% loss.

Non action skills (eg: hand-to-hand), and skills that are pre-req's would get updated as their child skills get used.
Every 5% of a skill you 'forgot' you could gain 1 practice point in return.

Additionally, this would also allow skills and spells in the practice list to be highlighted if they get used regularly, and made darker if they haven't been used in a while.
A sort of 'heatmap' as to your skill usage.

The goal of this idea being that:

• Unused skills on people would fade out, and allow for the skills they do use to become better.
• So that people wouldn't maintain skills they didn't use.
• So that skills were more of a commodity, by reducing the frequency of their occurrence in the 4d population.
• So that it provides scope for the coders to make skills comparatively better then they are now, because not all players will have all skills.

[Mordecai]

The next step:
Firstly:
Currently the max learned on all skills/spells is 97% learned each.

Example of a balanced change to this:
Taking the total number of your skills, say 30 if you are a Warrior.

So, lets say that a skill is a 'bucket' that can hold 97 units of 'learned' (each unit being 1% in a skill).

And, you have a total potential % to learn of 30 x 97 = 2910 x units of 'learned', is the max for all skill buckets.

Then, putting a limit on that total potential of say 75%, you would only get 2182 x units of 'learned' to fill your 'buckets' with.

Giving you more skill 'buckets' potential space than you have units of 'learned'.

So for every skill you learned up to 97%, another skill could only be learned to 53%.

Benefit of this would be:

• Provides a good reason for wanting to forget skills that you don't use.
• Players could have more strategy in selecting what skills they learn, and in turn having those skills give them an advantage based on the forward planning they did.
• Reduces the 'overpowered' GM's, because they would also need to choose their specific skills more wisely, and not just be uber in all classes T1 and T2 skills.

[Kvetch]

I like this.

[erwin]

Seconded.

Maybe a 'forget' command as well?

[Estidn]

Don't like.

[Molly]

I love this.

Would make for more unique and specialized players and definitely reward use that think tactically in their choices of classes and skills.

It also provides an easy way for a player to rectify a bad choice, by just forgetting that skill and concentrating on others. (I assume that they will be able to train up a skill that they have forgotten again later if they choose)?

I also like the part where you highlight the skills that are in use.
Would it even be possible to have a sort of 'scale' from 1-5? For instance the colour turning from white - blue - green - yellow - red, or different shades of green, using a more advanced colour code?

[Estidn]

This is really just adding to the time that must be spent on leveling and doing boring repetitive crap. I really don't like the idea for the mere fact that you now have to find the person for all your spells/skills. And I really just think it's taking away from people who don't have hours to devote to 4d at a time.

Secondly I think you should be able to see what skills/spells the trainer teaches.

[Mordecai]

I love this.

Would make for more unique and specialized players and definitely reward use that think tactically in their choices of classes and skills.

It also provides an easy way for a player to rectify a bad choice, by just forgetting that skill and concentrating on others. (I assume that they will be able to train up a skill that they have forgotten again later if they choose)?

I also like the part where you highlight the skills that are in use.
Would it even be possible to have a sort of 'scale' from 1-5? For instance the colour turning from white - blue - green - yellow - red, or different shades of green, using a more advanced colour code?

Yes, I would make it 3 colors for basic players. Bright green, for recently used skills, dark green for skills that haven't been used in a 'week', and plain white for skills that haven't been used in a month.

For players that have gmud, or zmud, or any other client with MXP support, we could have a full scale of shades as it moves from light to dark.

And yes, it will be easy enough to use a skill again to start gaining it again through use, or going to a trainer and practicing.

Personally I like the way that skills could be made more powerful, because you can't have as many each one will mean more.

[Mordecai]

Maybe a 'forget' command as well?

Yeah, I had a think about it, and I like that as an idea.
Clear a skill of all learned, and quickly recover 1 prac point per 5% of skill learned you wiped.

[Mordecai]

Secondly I think you should be able to see what skills/spells the trainer teaches.

You can, you go up to a trainer and type: prac skills or prac spells

[erwin]

Um Mord, I think Estidn means to see all the skills/spells that the trainer teaches.

If I'm a class that can't learn particular skill/spell, typing practice skills or practice spells will result in something like

Professor Grotefend can teach you the following skills:
You don't know any!

Professor Grotefend can teach you the following spells:
You don't know any!

Perhaps a command that can show all the skills/spells a trainer teaches?

[Mordecai]

Um Mord, I think Estidn means to see all the skills/spells that the trainer teaches.

If I'm a class that can't learn particular skill/spell, typing practice skills or practice spells will result in something like

Professor Grotefend can teach you the following skills:
You don't know any!

Professor Grotefend can teach you the following spells:
You don't know any!

Perhaps a command that can show all the skills/spells a trainer teaches?

Oh, sure.
I will get that in right away.

[Virisin]

Yay, good idea.

I've always liked the idea of players forgetting skills/spells if they arn't used.

I also think it'd be good because if you as a coder looked at the skills, and say; Forage was white on EVERY players list.. We could remove the skill and add something better.

I like it.

[Iwku]

I would like to request that you rethink this particular part of your idea:

Quote -
"If a skill goes unused for a week (or alternatively, a certain number of hours online), you loose between 1 and 7% learned in that skill. The amount that you lose would be dependant on your WISDOM. Where: 22 WIS = 1% loss and 15 WIS or less = 7% loss."

When I started on 4D, I had no idea about GM or that I would have to remort through all the classes.  I had no idea much about anything.  I just wanted to be a ranger, so I set my stats to be really high in con and dex and strength and low in int and wis.  Maybe not a wise idea in hindsight.

If wisdom will now determine losses in skills, my wisdom is so low that I'll lose huge percentages in skills EVEN if I use them regularly.  This seems to be giving an advantage to magical classes who would probably chose and equip themselves with int and wis stuff, and to experienced players who know to make a more balanced skill set between con, int, wis, dex, str to start with. 

[Mordecai]

Good point, I will have a think about that issue and get back to this thread.