Precisation about the “recruiting system” for Warhammer

Important enough to be used as a post, I was answering to a comment. I also want to say that this idea is easily portable, so not particularly tied to a game, that’s why I proposed it alternatively for Warhammer or DAoC. I believe it’s a good idea, with very important and diverse objectives, and shaped completely around the theory of “permeable barriers” (defining spaces, without enforcing them).

Obviously, when a higher level character enters a lower level zone, his equipment also decrements alongside his level, so that the difference in power between this newly deleved character and a character that has just entered the zone are kept to a minimum.

No, building a system that delevels equipment would be too complicated and even risk to mess with the database.

The idea is a compromise: to enter a lower level PvP zone you need to go to a “recruiting office”, where they will confiscate all your higher level items and put them in a vault, then delevel you and finally give you a paper that you have to consign to the guards so that you can enter the zone.

So each zone will basically have a vault where you can store your used equipment and take it back whenever you want to go playing there. Which would also help to reduce “twinking”.

However, if old armor doesn’t level up with you, then what’s the reason to stay in the same zone to collect all the armor sets, if they’re not going to net you any benefit once you’re out of the zone?

The armor sets you can “earn” in a zone are balanced to be used in that zone. As I said, your character continues to earn experience and levels even if it will be temporarily stuck at the level cap till you don’t leave the zone.

When you leave the zone you will be prompted to get your character bumped up to the max level he reached, but with his current equipment. Items are static, they don’t level nor delevel. So you have to catch up, craft or buy more up-to-date armor and weapons.

Game design should make sure that this isn’t a big issue. It would also encourage the player to not skip the PvE content in the game as it will be used to better outfit your character for the new zone.

After you’ve ‘completed’ a zone and moved on, why would you want to visit it again with the same character?

For three reasons, essentially:

1- Because you may want to join your friends who aren’t at the same level of you.
2- Because it’s about PvP, and PvP doesn’t “wear out” like PvE.
3- Because there are special armor sets, trophies, ranks and medals that you may want to collect.

I’m not sure that level 40 players would particularly want to temporarily part with their best stuff, their levels, and go to zones for level 5s

I’ve given some reasons about why you should “desire” that in the comment above. Besides, it happens ALL the time in DAoC, where there are plenty of players who want to play in one BG because it’s where they are having fun.

In DAoC you would lose ALL progress, and yet the players still want it. In my idea you don’t even lose progress doing so and you are NEVER locked out permanently from a zone as in DAoC.

Assumedly, you’re not going to scale the experience from a zone, so even if you keep earning it, it’s not going to be as good as experience from the zone that matches your level.

No, the experience you gain IS scaled. In the sense that you would gain about the same experience you would get if you were at your “real” level killing a same level creature. Ideally the experience progression is also linear (but it wouldn’t be a big issue if it wasn’t). For example requiring to gain 100 xp points to go from level 1 to 2 as from level 49 to 50.

What I want is that you always gain the same amount of points you would get by killing a same-level creature. So in the case your true level is 20 killing a level 20 creature you would get about the same xp points you would get if you are deleveled to 10 killing a level 10 creature.

This applies to the *experience*. Instead the items are static. So yeah, a level 5 zone will give you level 5 items. When you exit it you could be already at level 10 if you decide to stay for longer and go for the trophies, medals and the other rewards I described. But your equipment would realtively suck and you would have to hunt for better items (which, again, shouldn’t be a problem).

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