A new feature: Traits & Trait Pools
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2009-05-16 08:25 in Suggestions and Ideas
The equivalent of 'perks' in MMOs are usually some form of title or achievement. In CoX, these sorts of things are done with Accolades (and to a lesser extent, Inventions). Perhaps rework these as accolades and suggest methods to obtain?
The titles are amusing, but I don't think they fit the game's usual tone.
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So I was playing some other non-MMO games that were RPGs, and I noticed a trend... a lot of them have "Perks", or other similar systems, fun little enhanceming aspects of the game. I think people have brought it up in the past, but I was hoping to bring it up in a way that hasn't been done before:
Traits are (mostly) passive, fun (sometimes even comical) little powers that aren't meant to overpower your character, just to make the game even more fun. You choose five total Traits from different pools, ranked up by tier. The higher the tier, the more powerful the perk, the more tantalizing the Trait! At every 10 levels, you get to pick a Trait (starting with the first at level 10 and the fifth and final Trait at 50). Some are pretty useful and nifty to have, but never gamebreaking. Here are some example traits, my proposed in-game descriptions and trait pools...
Pool 1 (unlocked at Level 10):
*Who Dat Ninja?: You're some sort of ninja. With great ninja powers, come great ninja responsibilities... like whooping baddies. Or goodies. Either. You're a ninja, after all. No matter how far you fall, you never take falling damage. Also, your run and jump rates are increased by 2% every 5 levels. Why? Because you're a ninja.
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I thought movement rates increased with levels anyway - is this on top of that increase?
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*Sugar Rush: You recover Endurance faster than normal, probably because of your crazy metabolism... or it's that bowl of sugar you had for breakfast. In any case, you recover an extra 0.20end per second.
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Doesn't one of the Day Jobs already give increased OOC Recovery? Would your Recovery be in-combat as well?
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*POW!: You hit extraordinarily hard. Apparently, that rumor about Wheaties isn't a rumor after all. All your attacks that knock an opponent down, up or away gain a 50% bonus to their knocking component, kicking them further away, up higher, or down for longer.
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Interesting - but many teams *hate* knockback and won't thank you for adding yet more. And if you are already slotting for KB increases, this might be a bit much. (Disclosure - I'm a big KB fan on my blasters, defenders & corruptors and use it all the time slotted for increases).
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]Pool 2[/b] (unlocked at Level 20):
*Athletic: Whether you've been working out or that "magic diet" actually didn't cause a second head to sprout out of your shoulders this time (or you're just athletic), you move. Fast. Very fast. For every level, you gain an 0.5% increase to all your movement speeds including Run, Jump and Fly, and even the range at which you can teleport. This Trait is retroactive, so you have a total of +25% movement bonus by level 50.
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Again - Movement Rate is already increasing as you level up. You want more?
There are also some powers(Swift, one in the ?Regen powerset) and/or IO's (some set bonuses, Universal Travel) that do that, but not on your cumulative scale. I believe they are X% rather than X% per level - but since Movement Rate is already increasing, you still get an exponential effect.
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*Learner: You actually paid attention in school, and know how to get know-how.. and maybe a little moolah along the way. Prestige and influence or infamy gains increase by 10% every time you have a full bar or more of Patrol XP.
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Coupla Day Job powers/rewards here.
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Pool 3 (unlocked at Level 30):
*Doctor Brooklyn: Sometimes, you just explode. That's it. There's no good explanation. You just go BOOM! In PvE combat, whenever you are struck, the enemy triggers a 5% chance to take minor to moderate Smashing/Fire damage.
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Interesting. Note sure I like it, not sure why, but interesting.
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Pool 4 (unlocked at Level 40):
*Badger: You're badger-esque about your... well, badge collection. All "?"-level progress bars are unlocked to show what you're progressing towards and exactly how much you're missing from acquiring that progressive badge. Also, exploration badges will show up on your compass as long as you are within 50 yards of them.
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We just got progress bars for mot badges. Other than a pointer to nearby Exploration Badges, this doesn't add much.
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Pool 5 (unlocked at Level 50):
*Just Plain Awesome: Or maybe not 'plain'. More like "Just Extraordinary Awesome". That's kind of a mouth-full, though, so people have taken to calling you (NAME). With this Trait, all your powers recharge 12.5% faster. Also, citizens of the City or the Isles will randomly stop and tell you how awesome you are.
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12.5% Recharge? So making Perma-Dom or Perma-Haster or Perma-Whatever that much easier to get? Seems a bit OP.
Overall, it seems like some of your suggestions resemble Day Jobs - how owuld you differentiate them more?
Others are already in the game in some form or fashion.
Still others seem to be more than your stated aim of "(mostly) passive, fun (sometimes even comical) little powers that aren't meant to overpower your character". (Seriously - 12.5% Recharge - the super-desirable LotG Global Recharge bonus is only 7.5%)
I'm not sure the concept adds that much to the game but if it does, then it needs to add something not already there in the form of QoL features in-gme, Day Jobs, existing game mechanics. I'm not sure that there are any "fun little powers" that can be added at this point.
Altoholic - but a Blaster at Heart!
Originally Posted by SpyralPegacyon
"You gave us a world where we could fly. I can't thank you enough for that."
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I thought movement rates increased with levels anyway - is this on top of that increase?
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Only travel power speeds improve as you level. Your base runspeed is always 14.32mph, and the bonuses from pseudo-travel powers like swift, hurdle, sprint and combat jumping are likewise fixed.
Super Speed, Super Jump, and Fly become faster as you level though.
@Roderick
So I was playing some other non-MMO games that were RPGs, and I noticed a trend... a lot of them have "Perks", or other similar systems, fun little enhanceming aspects of the game. I think people have brought it up in the past, but I was hoping to bring it up in a way that hasn't been done before:
Traits are (mostly) passive, fun (sometimes even comical) little powers that aren't meant to overpower your character, just to make the game even more fun. You choose five total Traits from different pools, ranked up by tier. The higher the tier, the more powerful the perk, the more tantalizing the Trait! At every 10 levels, you get to pick a Trait (starting with the first at level 10 and the fifth and final Trait at 50). Some are pretty useful and nifty to have, but never gamebreaking. Here are some example traits, my proposed in-game descriptions and trait pools...
Pool 1 (unlocked at Level 10):
*Who Dat Ninja?: You're some sort of ninja. With great ninja powers, come great ninja responsibilities... like whooping baddies. Or goodies. Either. You're a ninja, after all. No matter how far you fall, you never take falling damage. Also, your run and jump rates are increased by 2% every 5 levels. Why? Because you're a ninja.
*Sugar Rush: You recover Endurance faster than normal, probably because of your crazy metabolism... or it's that bowl of sugar you had for breakfast. In any case, you recover an extra 0.20end per second.
*POW!: You hit extraordinarily hard. Apparently, that rumor about Wheaties isn't a rumor after all. All your attacks that knock an opponent down, up or away gain a 50% bonus to their knocking component, kicking them further away, up higher, or down for longer.
Pool 2 (unlocked at Level 20):
*Athletic: Whether you've been working out or that "magic diet" actually didn't cause a second head to sprout out of your shoulders this time (or you're just athletic), you move. Fast. Very fast. For every level, you gain an 0.5% increase to all your movement speeds including Run, Jump and Fly, and even the range at which you can teleport. This Trait is retroactive, so you have a total of +25% movement bonus by level 50.
*Learner: You actually paid attention in school, and know how to get know-how.. and maybe a little moolah along the way. Prestige and influence or infamy gains increase by 10% every time you have a full bar or more of Patrol XP.
Pool 3 (unlocked at Level 30):
*Doctor Brooklyn: Sometimes, you just explode. That's it. There's no good explanation. You just go BOOM! In PvE combat, whenever you are struck, the enemy triggers a 5% chance to take minor to moderate Smashing/Fire damage.
Pool 4 (unlocked at Level 40):
*Badger: You're badger-esque about your... well, badge collection. All "?"-level progress bars are unlocked to show what you're progressing towards and exactly how much you're missing from acquiring that progressive badge. Also, exploration badges will show up on your compass as long as you are within 50 yards of them.
...Nerd.
Pool 5 (unlocked at Level 50):
*Just Plain Awesome: Or maybe not 'plain'. More like "Just Extraordinary Awesome". That's kind of a mouth-full, though, so people have taken to calling you (NAME). With this Trait, all your powers recharge 12.5% faster. Also, citizens of the City or the Isles will randomly stop and tell you how awesome you are.
<[V]>IRTUE Player
Active 50s: Malevolency: (50+3 SS/WP Brute) / Sky-Scar (50+1 Robots/Dark MM) / Venomvein: (50+1 Crab) / Warlocked (50+1 BS/Shield Scrapper) / Some 50s Inactive