Character Advancement Part VII – Endless Grind Points

Lately I’ve been working on several articles that all revolve around character advancement in MMOs. They were originally going to be a linear series like Guild Science but I’ve decided to do the articles out of order “Star Wars” style. Ultimately I came to this decision because the introductory articles are pretty dry. They’re not that fun to write and probably not that fun to read. It is one of those things that are a necessity and full of great information and historical context but still dull. So, instead of starting at article I I’m going to just skip towards some of the more fun parts.

Article VII: Endless Grind Points

When it comes to MMOs I find that a lot of players will immediately cut their play time once they’re out of ways to progress through the standard means. By this I merely mean if the only way to progress is now through something like gear they tend to slow down, especially if lock out timers are involved. Players tend to log in, do exactly what is necessary to get a certain item, and log out. There has to be a way to keep them engaged.

I’ve been pioneering a theory when it comes to character advancement. That theory simply states that “players will continue in their usual leveling patterns even if the gains continue to get substantially less as long the difficulty remains level.” With that in mind I postulate that EGPs (endless grind points) could work well.

Endless Grind Points are, essentially, a different kind of alternate advancement that is intended to be complimentary to all other leveling systems. Once a player is “max level” they can participate in the EGP program. I have envisioned this as a long, mostly linear map, not unlike that of the leveling system in Final Fantasy X. You cannot skip any step and rarely do you have more than one choice. All earned experience is no longer wasted by being maxed level. Now it goes towards the EGP map.

The EGP map offers players a perpetual “ding” so to speak. It is an immediate reward system. If you earn one point you get to spend it immediately. The only catch is that your gains are minuscule or fluff oriented. To keep balance in check all character advancing gains are virtually useless alone. Given a long enough time you will see progress, however.

To give an example I’ve come up with a very basic map that would be near the start. The key thing to know, so things are in perspective, is that an average item would have roughly 5 points to three statistics and roughly 25 hitpoints or mana.

2HP => 2Mana => 1/4STR => Character size increase 1% => 1/4INT => New hair style => Silly title => ¼STA => Random pet

I think you get the point, more or less. The great part about this, at least from a development standpoint, is that encounters can be easily balanced by where the average player sits on the map. Additionally, since gains are so small, even if you did adjust a mobs power up skill could still over come the minor statistic deficiency.

Beyond this, development could easily expand the map without much trouble. Are a lot of players getting towards the top? Add twelve more hops on there. The rewards aren’t great? Doesn’t matter! The whole point is just so that players continue to see the yellow bar move from left to right. It is, more or less, a novelty and a subtle guide towards different behavior. I know, for a fact, it would work for me.

Ultimately it caters to the power gamer who always want to have some edge. It also doesn’t really hurt the casual player who could care less that if she spends another 35 days played she gets a few fluffy items and the equivalent to one more average piece of equipment. It is also something that can be worked over time. All activities will still slowly advance a character.

It is a bit of a niche idea but I think it might fly in a lot of games that are out there now. I am curious as to what others think though. Good idea? Terrible idea? I look forward to some comments.