"AA" System for the 300+ guys

While I know nothing from the coding background of it, how hard it would be to code or how overpowering would it be to implement a from of Alternate Advancement (AA) system for the guys that have nothing left to buy and leftover points that can't be spent. It would give a very small bonus to players that continue to level into the 300's, 400's, 500's, etc.

Examples:

AA Health Bonus (25 Levels)
Cost: 21 Points for Each Level
Description: Increases Max Health by 2 per level of ability.

AA Damage Bonus (25 Levels)
Cost: 21 Points for Each Level
Description: Increases Damage Done by 0.25% per level of ability.

AA Adrenaline Bonus (25 Levels)
Cost: 21 Points for Each Level
Description: Increases Max Adrenaline by 1 per level of ability.

etc.

(So for 21 Points you get what was before only cost 1 point. While its a lot of points for such a small bonus, thats the point of AA systems. The only people that would take it is if they had nothing else to buy.)

Just to cap all 3 of the abilities that I listed as examples it would take a total of 225 levels (75 levels per ability). This could be adjusted of course but the whole point of the AA system it to allow your character to improve slightly as they continue to gain levels and have hit the hard caps. It would be very minor difference between a lv 300 character and a lv 500 character but it would give those guys that have put a lot of time in thier character a very small bonus and improvement to thier character.

As it is, the level 500+ peeps are the same as the level 300 peeps except for the level penalty placed on the monsters.

good idea
small bonuses but bonuses , my LW has entered the land of " woo one more level and I can buy iron legs level 3 !!!"

The idea of very slow AA abilities is possible. It would give high players something to spend on.

I am not sure how easy it is to modify stats maximums like Health and Adrenaline for some players only. But other abilities could perhaps simulate the effect.

It might be possible instead to add extra abilities.

For example, RPG weapons currently do a minimum of 15% damage against high level monsters. We could add an ability that increases that minimum %. It would also give them a bit more chance when they are the only ones left alive, but wouldn't seriously affect gameplay when others were on. Perhaps 25 points per %, which equates to +10% on the minimum for around 35 levels of points? EDIT: So buying +85% for 2125 points, or around 300 levels of points, makes every RPG weapon piercing.

Other skills could be anti-titan bounce or poison resistance.
Perhaps even extra artifacts or weapon magic types. Or even additional weapons. But not sufficient to make them too powerful.
Let them buy abilities like spider steroids? Or increase the number of spider mines they can spawn? To help them protect their backs.

There are alternatives like a better HUD - perhaps a larger radar, perhaps improvements to awareness (combine all the existing ones?), perhaps display on hud the damage each shot does...

High level players have spent a long time playing. What could we add to make the game more fun for them?

I'm not so sure about making higher level players more powerful. Even if they are paying a high premium, that's essentially the idea. RPG progress has to end somewhere eventually, it's inevitable.

The subclass idea has more merit to me. Offer different gameplay options without necessarily putting people back on the treadmill.

Wail wrote:

I'm not so sure about making higher level players more powerful. Even if they are paying a high premium, that's essentially the idea. RPG progress has to end somewhere eventually, it's inevitable.

The subclass idea has more merit to me. Offer different gameplay options without necessarily putting people back on the treadmill.

I'd rather have another 2 or 3 levels of loaded weapons......
Say, level 6 costing 500 points and have all maxed weapons
and level 7 costing 1000 points and having all maxed vorp and piercing weapons.........

Dreaming huh.........but then perhaps I would have a possible chance to keep up with Elite

what about matrix moves (never liked the way electro-magnet worked) but running along a wall is fun
used to have it on a server I used to play on you could dodge into a wall and the run along it ,if you stop running you fall though
or +1 to magic weapons artifact ( only +1 to current not over max) so they can max weapons (slowly)

hmm... i have to say i like dracos idea a lot and the part of szlats idea where he mentions abilities like titan resistance and poison resistance, that would seem quite handy. I mean I consider myself a medium-level player, the others like demon and desert are high-level players since they have maxed everything and have nothing more to buy they should be given luxuries as to increase stats as mentioned by dracos.

Oh wow. Even though I'm not anywhere near those levels I like the idea. More fuel for Elite I guess.

lol no i actually level quite slowly if you havent noticed because once i get one of my characters above the others i change to my other characters so that they can all maintain the same level... and besides I'm not maxed out yet on any of my chars except AM

How about some "Last Man Standing" abilities that only kick in when the player is the last alive. Life gets very tough for the 300+ guys when they are left alone due to the massive DB/DR they are facing. So how about some abilities that will give them a chance.

e.g.

Last Man Minimum Weapon Damage - increase the minimum weapon damage of RPG weapons to compensate for the high monster DR. +1% on minimum per level, 100 levels, 7 points per level.

Last Man Damage Reduction - reduce the damage taken to compensate for the monsters very high DB. -1% off damage taken per level, 50 levels, 7 points per level

Last Man Weapon Speed - only one player left, you are going to be swamped by monsters. +1% on weapon speed per level, 100 levels, 7 points per level. (Or perhaps have a damage bonus one instead)
and so on

These will not affect normal gameplay as they only kick in when the high level player is left alone.
At the moment, when alone, a high level player can only run. They have very little chance of winning when they are 400+. Where is the fun in that? Is that what they have worked so hard for?
Completing a map benefits all players. And the win bonus means more to the low levels playing than to the high level, who can't spend the points anyway.

(The best option might be to kick the abilities in when the "Lowest Player Alive" value, which is used to calculate monster DB/DR, is above 250. )

Ohhh, I like that Idea, Szlats (must die?)

except then they would have even less reason to work with others or help the lower level players survive.

If it were not for those reasons, it would be the best yet.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here.

but some how its coming out that way, disregard all above.

//end transmit

It's probably unrealistic since I know there is quite a bit of reluctance about modifying UT2004RPG, but I think I'd rather just see caps on the effective monster level.

I do have to say that it would probably be quite fun to be the last person alive if you were getting an extra 100% weapon speed, just going berserk on a horde of monsters.

Grizzled_Imposter wrote:

...except then they would have even less reason to work with others or help the lower level players survive.

It is actually very difficult to keep someone else alive. Try it sometime.
You stand a chance if they hide somewhere and you stand in the brink - which means you get shedloads of xp and they get nothing (unless they are a medic). Most players want to be in the action, and if they are in the action, you can't protect them.

I remember a long while ago, new players would essentially sit out waves 9-16, because they died as soon as they spawned. Since Druid added the sub-40 ghost/regen etc playing a low level is a lot easier. So I think the expectation about high levels having to keep low levels alive, while a nice thought, perhaps isn't something that should be dictated as necessity by the code.

So if the low player is dying because he didn't hide away and insisted on shield-gunning titans, why should the high level be punished?

Wail wrote:

It's probably unrealistic since I know there is quite a bit of reluctance about modifying UT2004RPG, but I think I'd rather just see caps on the effective monster level.

The big problem used to be that once monsters had a DR 200 above the players DB, then the player would only do 1 damage per shot. There is now a site-configurable value MinDamagePercent in the OneDropWeapon code that limits this. Currently it defaults to 15%.
However, you still have the monsters giving you a reasonable wallop.

Wail wrote:

I do have to say that it would probably be quite fun to be the last person alive if you were getting an extra 100% weapon speed, just going berserk on a horde of monsters.

Might need more resupply though

Last Man Minimum Weapon Damage - increase the minimum weapon damage of RPG weapons to compensate for the high monster DR. +1% on minimum per level, 100 levels, 7 points per level.

gimme gimme

Last Man Damage Reduction - reduce the damage taken to compensate for the monsters very high DB. -1% off damage taken per level, 50 levels, 7 points per level

PLEASE! I hate when skaarj energy balls rain from everywhere and are suddenly fatal because the last lower level just died

Last Man Weapon Speed - only one player left, you are going to be swamped by monsters. +1% on weapon speed per level, 100 levels, 7 points per level. (Or perhaps have a damage bonus one instead)

not sure about this one I still think it should be difficult for high lvls to complete maps by themselves it forces them to adjust their playing style to survive and reminds us to help lower levels if we can

and running is good exercise

Grizzled_Imposter wrote:

...except then they would have even less reason to work with others or help the lower level players survive.

It is actually very difficult to keep someone else alive. Try it sometime.
You stand a chance if they hide somewhere and you stand in the brink - which means you get shedloads of xp and they get nothing (unless they are a medic). Most players want to be in the action, and if they are in the action, you can't protect them.

I remember a long while ago, new players would essentially sit out waves 9-16, because they died as soon as they spawned. Since Druid added the sub-40 ghost/regen etc playing a low level is a lot easier. So I think the expectation about high levels having to keep low levels alive, while a nice thought, perhaps isn't something that should be dictated as necessity by the code.

So if the low player is dying because he didn't hide away and insisted on shield-gunning titans, why should the high level be punished?

I did not say keep alive, I said work with. Realizing that it is difficult to keep others alive, even with a medic.

I did not say protect. I said work with. Realizing that low levels get more exp from killing monsters than supporting a high level.

I did not say, that high levels should be punished for a low level shield gunning a titan, but that is how the game works now.

I said I liked your idea, hmmm. I do.

I am not criticizing you Szlats, you are a team player. It was not meant to be personal.