[MUD-Dev] Star Wars Galaxies: 1 character per server

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

From: Madrona Tree [mailto:madronatree at hotmail.com] 

> I did not mean that they did not get the idea of SCS; I meant that
> some of them do not understand that you *will* be able to
> experiment with your one guy on your one server, and will not have
> to start completely over (or anew on a new server).  Many gamers
> come from class systems, where to experiment, you *do* have to
> begin anew. They are applying the knowledge of their current game
> to the new game, which is different in other ways as to not make
> it as big of a deal.

True, but it might be fun to experiment with another playing style
without adjusting the direction of your primary character. Perhaps
he's part of a regular perma-group that relies on his healing
abilities. He may then feel compelled to retain them not re-invest.

Furthermore, there is an underlying assumption that dropping skills
can be done lightly. I suspect that this will not be the case,
previous discussion has stated that earning certain skills will
require the completion of trials etc. If these trials are hard, no
one is going to just throw that skill away if they are fairly
satisfied with it.

A quote from Raph's original missive:

8<---
  We've gone to very great lengths to make sure that you can try out
  different playstyles--and even engage in multiple different
  playstyles simultaneously.  You get 200 skill points right
  now. That's enough to fully master three separate professions plus
  half of another one. Put another way, it's enough for you to be a
  Master Image Designer, Master Marksman, and Master
  Gunsmith--actually, probably enough where you could go beyond
  Marksman and master Rifle Specialist or Pistol.
8<---

As with all skill based games with limited points to allocate,
everyone is going to specialise in their core activity. You aren't
going to see many 'Master Image Designer, Master Marksman, and
Master Gunsmith's, what you will see is 'Master Marksman, Master
Rifleman, Master Pistoleer' (apologies for any skill name butchery,
I'm not au fait with the list). If I like combat, I'm going to get
every skill that gives me an edge in it. If there is no reason to
get multiple combat skills, chances are that they aren't distinct
enough to merit inclusion anyway.

This is likely to lead to stratification between 100% trade skillers
(or guild trade skill mules - an inevitability) and 100% combat
players. Or perhaps SWG is going to be sufficiently rewarding, at
such a multitude of activites, that I'm missing the point entirely
and applying past experience where it doesn't fit.

Dan

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