Ascension class?
Will there be anything like Achaean Dragons in Starmourn?
I'm hoping not. I don't want to feel forced into taking on generic transhumanoid cloudform because it gets me a hefty bonus to bashing efficiency or whatnot.
I'm hoping not. I don't want to feel forced into taking on generic transhumanoid cloudform because it gets me a hefty bonus to bashing efficiency or whatnot.
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So I will continue to be a frustrated transhumanist (or not, depending on the aesthetics of wetwiring) for now.
I don't think I'd want any SINGLE ascension class that would erase my class's flavor. Maybe generic it slightly so a kith user can unlock the old form of kith or just open everyone up to cybernetics/learning some kith once ascending?
— Oscar Wilde
"I'll take care of it, Luke said. And because he said it instead of her, I knew he meant kill. That is what you have to do before you kill, I thought. You have to create an it, where none was before."
— Margaret Atwood
For example, scoundrel could become privateer, boss, smuggler, or something like that.
I'm the opposite. Aetolia's endgame race is basically a bunch of extra stats. It is such a significant bonus that it creates a divide between endgame and normal game (with pvp at least). On top of which, those extra 20 levels past 80 are already adding large amounts of max health/mana anyway - and then the endgame statpacks increase it even more.
It's a weird reward as well. Oh cool, I have level 100. Now less people are willing to fight me, but I'm better equipped to fight the other level 100 people. The game was no less fun when people bashed to level 80 and were happy they didn't need to eat or sleep.
I much prefer an engame, optional class. It's a fun and useful reward, that doesn't permanently replace your actual class. It is effective at some things, but limited compared to the normal classes. If there is no rush to get to level 100 (i.e. no perception that to compete, it is necessary) then it will take longer and that is okay. As a reward it gives me thing new to do and try and get good at - something to sink my time into. A neat idea given that by now (i.e. max level) I am a well established player and at risk of becoming bored.
On a similar note, is character level the main numerical difference in terms of combat power? Is it gear? Artifacts? Obviously not taking skill into account, just the numbers.
I like cyborgs, but I also recognize that if anybody doesn't and that was hypothetically the only max level option, suddenly getting to max level isn't appealing to that demographic. That's the case for me with Dragons in Achaea, for example. Really don't care for the dragon aesthetic.
(I do care about PvP advantages, but other than that I agree fully)
I'm tired and posting from my phone so I apologize if this is unintelligible or incoherent.
https://wiki.starmourn.com/Abyss_Bomb
The retirement ideas aren't great because I know very few people who want to retire as soon as they hit level 100.
Obviously this is just an example, but with a small playerbase on MUDs in general, I think it is best to not try to pit the endgame players exclusively against each other. I think Imperian did something like this with Aspects but I'm not sure. Instead, have their new perks, whatever they may be--new shops (edit: ships!) sounds awesome!--something that is meant to keep interacting with the whole playerbase regardless of level. Fragmenting the game into endgame and not-endgame might work for some genres, but I think it would be mostly harmful to this one.
Maybe that's not at all with what you meant by elemental-based ascension, but endgame water vs. fire is what immediately came to mind for me.
The Elemental classes, in Achaea, are both a new race/desc and a new class, that you can obtain by questing for the appropriate faction. The reason I mentioned them in contrast to Dragons, is because while the dragon achievement mainly gives a buff to bashing, Elemental classes are used as a new way to PvP. And they gave people a lot more to do when they came out, both with the questing, and the whole learning a new class and new way to combat. There isn't a whole lot of utility with most of them though, aside from Air, which has some nice travel abilities.
So what I was trying to say, was that a PvP class might be an interesting option, using this as an example. It wouldn't have to necessarily be that, but I definitely think that anything that adds a lot more material to explore - a new time sink - is a cool idea.
Oooooooh, what if reaching x level added a new area that you could explore/quest/bash?
Not necessarily level locked, but they're strong enough that you won't want to go there until you're strong enough and have some other strong friends with you.
I'm not sure how this ties into ascension and I don't want to derail this too much, but that seems like it could work and be fun.
Aetolia has people that detest bashing, save up for exp bonuses, wait until they have a few weeks with nothing to do, binge-bashing and trying to get to 100 in a rush so they can compete in pvp on an even playing ground.
Ultimately I don’t care what Starmourn gets, so long as it isn’t inherently flawed like the Aetolian example.
I’d honestly be happy with nothing at all, if that is the only alternative, though I do think there have been some neat ideas in this thread.