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KEEPING LEVELING ON THE LEVEL

Author: Chris F

October 06th, 2008 | Category: Blizzard, EA, MMO

You know that point in a game where the time investment per level seems out of whack? Where the reward to get the next “ding” just seems inflated for no sole purpose but to grind out your time? I have finally hit that in WAR. You start to feel that pinch around level 25, and by the time you have done every single quest in all three pairings, grinded out every PQ in all three, have done an abundance of RVR and Scenarios and are at level 28 and realize – hell, I have 3 super long and not fun levels to go and ZERO content to do it with, then the game wasn’t planned out right. Consider it lack of content. Consider it the “bug fix” to take away your killing bonus (ah, to be one of the lucky few to get through these levels with that handy little bug on my side!). Consider it the ultimate suck. This problem isn’t just with WAR, but I have felt it in other games as well. Difference being, that the earlier levels in WAR are just way more fun so it hurts even more. When I hit level 12, it hurt, because I went from top of the heap to bottom of the barrel in the new Tier. Ditto with level 22. With the power curve ramping even more upwards as the levels go up this has more of a significant impact. Bolster is handy, but flawed. With the huge difference in gear and abilities available to make bolster even more worthwhile, it should bolster to max level in the tier (ie: Tier 1, bolster to 11. Tier 2, bolster to 21. etc.) This would help close the gap a bit, but what I really want to discuss today is the levelling curve and an idea to change how MMO’s do it. WAR will be the backdrop as it is unique in the way you level throughout the game – your gameplay has impact on end game from day 1.

Please note these are all assumptions on the math based on my experiences.  I am even going to use handout materials.

This is what the leveling curve in WAR seems to be. Each level gets incremently longer. While you breeze through the first 10 levels, the levels as you push higher feel rediculously long. While it might take you 2 hours to get from level 22-23, it takes 4 to get from 23-24, and 7 to get from 24-25. Add to this, the issue that there is not enough content to push through those levels and many hit the leveling brick wall in WAR. I am sure a lot of players love the challenge – maybe I would too if the content kept up.

WAR leveling

This is what the leveling curve felt like in WoW. Yes, it was more hours per each level, but nothing major or as rediculous as in WAR. The increments were manageable and the difference from 20 to 21, and 21 to 22 flowed logically – more time, but not an exorbent amount of more time. It had a natural, fun feel to it. Not the painful, punishing feel from WAR.

This is how I would like to see leveling done. Equal increments for each level. You would definitely have to change the way your character starts (not just with 2 skills, start them with a fair handful of handy tools – picture level 8-10 skillset to start). While this is a major change to the landscape of how we level in MMO’s I believe it would make the leveling game more fun for everyone, and remove the brick wall and seemingly endless grinds we are all forced to deal with. 

If MMO company wants a player to spend 8 days played to level their character to max rank, and have designed their game to be meaningful from level 1 to 40, why NOT have 4 hours per level of good old fashioned fun? I would trade that in a heartbeat for the 10 minutes to level the first 5 levels, then 20 hours to level 1 level later on. It rewards consistent play and the player will always know they have a new level waiting for them around the corner, instead of waiting for them around 2143 corners (all left turns too, at that). WoW took away the pain of leveling from EQ, WAR has put it back in – only it is cleverly disguised in the much later levels. In this day and age of MMO’s catering to the casual, why put the grind back in? A level leveling system would keep both camps happy – the hardcore get their levels the same way, but the casual can enjoy the ride as well.

7 comments

7 Comments so far

  1. Merc October 6th, 2008 12:15 pm

    My god, the game has been out two weeks. There are tons of 30-40 on my server. Yes, SOME used the exploit, but not most. Leveling is fine. The age of instant gratification is sure upon us, isn’t it?

  2. Chris F October 6th, 2008 12:47 pm

    I am just pointing out their inflated leveling mechanism and they don’t have the content to back it up to keep leveling fun, although they have the perfect back drop to make it so. I didn’t anywhere say I wanted instant gratification – only a fun leveling experience. WAR does it very well in the early levels but fails in the mid-upper levels. People will quit when they run out of content and hit the leveling wall, and people like you who enjoy the sick leveling grind will have fewer people to kill.

    Keep the same intended timeline to get to max level, sure, just have the content to back it up and keep it fun. Games are supposed to be fun, afterall.

  3. Zubon October 6th, 2008 3:47 pm

    I hit that in the mid-20s. I have considered just abandoning the main and playing alts through the first two tiers.

    Once I hit 26-28, I am happy to level from scenarios exclusively. That’s fine. In the low-20s, that is not an option unless I want to handicap my team. I think I am useful at 24, but 26 would be better. I liked leveling 8-12 and 18-22 from scenarios. As you say, that sudden drop to the bottom of the heap, with levels of grinding ahead, is not fun.

  4. Zubon October 6th, 2008 3:51 pm

    Also: playing in off-hours means that scenarios are not a real option, especially if you do not like whichever one happens to be popping that day. Grind or alt.

  5. I HAS PC » The 6 Wheeled Car October 8th, 2008 10:02 am

    [...] touched upon my dream leveling curve here and wanted to expand how using a flat hours per level system could innovate a part of the market. [...]

  6. I HAS PC » Familiarity Breeds Contempt October 31st, 2008 2:49 pm

    [...] then WAR must too! TONS OF THEM! MILLIONS OF LEVELS! (I need an afternoon Coffee/Vicoden cocktail). I talked about leveling systems before, and how WAR would have been a perfect backdrop to break the mold. All levels end up doing, and [...]

  7. Tesh October 31st, 2008 3:34 pm

    I came to this late via the “familiarity” post link. This is an interesting article to read:

    Designing a Level System

    I’ve long been concerned with leveling systems. I think the core of it that players want a way to measure progress. Thing is, measuring progress is one thing, but padding out game time via a stupidly paced leving system (especially in a sub model) comes across as lazy design.

    Bottom line, if the game isn’t fun at all possible levels, the game designers have failed. Whether that means a different progress metric, more playtesting, and/or better foresight, it doesn’t matter. Somebody slacked on their job.

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