I would like you guys to think about how a change in the system, adding new skills, or changing the way in which you get skills would affect existing players and what they have collected up already.
Including existing GM and such.
Adding races, classes, and individual skills, and skill prerequisite's is relatively easy.
The hard part is making the changes in a way that positively affects as many people as possible.
I have found over the years, that if you add or change something in the structure of how something is done in the game, such as, the gains from remorting, or skills gained, you get a lot of disappointed people.
So, if with your suggestions you make, you can help me and the other coders find an easier way to apply something to the game, we would be greatful, and your ideas will be put in the game a lot faster.
----
An example of what i am talking about.If we add to the game 60 player levels instead of 50.
What repercussions would that have on the code and the game?- every script in the game that checks if a player is a mortal, or a low level, or a high level player would be wrong suddenly, and need updating to fit with the new scale.
- All the skills and spells that you gain at different levels would need updating too.
- The points gains you get when you level up would need to be adjusted to fit the new scale too.
- The level restriction on any objects that have level restriction in place would need updating.
- All help files and display screens in the game and the website would need updating.
- Our website profile on vote sites would need changing to show the new levels
- And so on...
What repercussions would that have on existing players and future players?- How would it be handled for people who were just about to Remort and were level 50, who now suddenly they have 10 more levels to go?
- Would the level exp needed to get to level 60 be retroactively applied to reduce the total remorts a person has to make everyone even, or just left as it is, if we made it retroactive how would that affect GM's and Masteries?
- People just gain exp easy enough, why not make it so you have to get 5 of your levels by grouping with others, 5 of them from quest exp?
- and so on...
Is the total gain to the mud by this change MORE than the expense of all the Admin and Coders time to implement the change?