Apr

3

What is your ideal level?

April 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

I have been thinking about the idea of levels in MMORPGs and how they have been implemented traditionally and I was wondering… if I could pick whatever level I wanted when I was making my character, what level would I choose? I am kind of working under the assumption here that I would have skills, abilities and gear appropriate to my level.

According to some handy quote site on the internet it was Elizabeth Taylor who said “It’s not the having, it’s the getting.” And not that I am doubting Mrs. T, but when it comes to MMORPGs, is she right?

Clearly, the folks who are trading cash for characters and items don’t think so. For them, it is all about the having. They would rather not wait to get a certain level or item via the game mechanism, but instead just buy it and circumvent the whole “getting” process.

So I wonder, where would be the ideal place to “have” before starting to “get?”

I wonder if anyone would choose level 1? I don’t know that I would. Most of the time the beginning of MMORPGs are dreadfully boring. I particularly despise killing rats and beetles and wolf pups. I’m not all that fond of delivering muffins, or coffee for random guards. I’m not all that keen on rummaging through trash piles looking for lost baubles. Why are you inviting me to a group? Who needs a group? I’m pretty sure I can smack a “slightly miffed scrawny hamster” without your help. none of this sounds fun, so I imagine I would opt in sometime after level 1, like maybe level 5.

Level 5 is better, five times better at least, right? Well… not really. Now that I think of it, I might not want to be level 5 either. Sure I am out in the world now, or in the city sewers, but what am I bashing the baddies with? Some rusty sword or bent dagger? Am I nuking away with the equivalent of a nerf dart? Is my armor all held together with duct tape and string? I’m sure I can only carry 10 items because I have only the basic bag. And I certainly can’t buy a new one because I am dirt poor and selling scavenged rat tails for 1 copper each. Level 5 is no fun, the only advantage I can see to starting here is that the levels typically go by pretty fast. but I can just get them all instantly if I just start at…

Level 10 is where it’s at, I think. Here’s where the adventure starts… I’ve got a snazzy new robe if I am a caster or a gleaming breastplate and sturdy sword if I am a tank. As a caster, I’ve got some spells now, I imagine – a drain life, a fireball, a heal of some consequence, maybe even invisibility or a run speed boost. Or I can sneak and backstab as a rogue. I can go into the first of the game dungeons. I think these things are all about the having and now I can start the getting. But… something is still missing. Oh yeah, I want to be in a guild not just a newbie guild of people who are likely to quit tomorrow, but an established guild of experienced players. Probably not going to get into one of those at level 10, actually I wonder if I might rather be…

Level 20 is even better than level 10, don’t you think? Why would I want to waste my time in the newbie dungeons in pick up groups? At level 20 my class is fleshed out, or I can subclass… In my groups, I have a definitive role which I enjoy. I’ve got a horse now, a pet and a surname. My sword and armor are magic. I can wander around the lands near my city without fear of anything. I crush mobs in the newbie zones to save folks in danger. I hand out buffs to low level characters like candy because everyone knows the early levels just suck to do on your own (duh, that’s why I started here). I’ve got some gold in the bank, not enough, but no one has enough ever. I can join a guild that are some semi-serious players, not one which is just full of people who are going to re-roll their characters daily. But… whenever I am out exploring and that big giant wanders by, he still kills me every time. Someday, I will kill you Mr. Giant and today could be that day if only I was…

Level 40 is where the real game starts or so I’ve been told. I’ve got seriously magic jewelry and weapons made of some exotic material like glass, mithril or adamantium. Spells? Yeah, I’ve got spells. I can nuke like a howitzer, I can summon a lesser demon as an ally and I’ve got a wall of flame around me so you can’t get close enough to hit me. If a mob is silly enough to let me get behind it, I can backstab for Mach 5 damage. And I can stand in the middle of a sea of mobs and keep all of their attention while my experienced guild/group mates mow them down like so much chaff. Not only can I kill Mr. Giant, but I can take on all comers in most dungeons including the end bosses that drop the good loots. Roomy, magic bags mean I can haul away more loot than a modern day tractor trailer which helps me to have cash to spare (not enough for beggar newbies, though). Life is finally good, this is where I want to be in the world. Of course, it would be nice if I could leave this world once in a while and go to other planes of existence to battle the gods and their servants. But to do that I’d need to be…

Level 60 means I have finally arrived. I’ve got the keys to the city of “wherever the heck I want-ville.” Dungeons on the mainland? Yawn. Please, I only go to those to camp rare spawns when I am not off exploring the 3rd circle of the Plane of Awesomeness in a full raid with my uber-guild. We kill dragons, demons and even the avatars of the gods themselves. My weapons glow and shower particles as they shred minions effortlessly. They proc heals and damage and poison and lemon juice just to be mean. In fact, they only reach their full potential when fighting the toughest bosses. I can summon an army of zombies, create a bottomless chasm, or manifest a black hole with a simple flick of my staff. A backstab kills all but the fiercest opponents immediately. I can resist fire, lightning, acid, poison, harsh language and whatever else a monster could throw at me. The toughest fights and the best loots are where our guild goes. Sometimes on weekends and sometimes at inconvenient times during the day on a Wednesday or something and we can only raid when we can get more than 20 of us online at once. Sometimes I think it would be nicer if I didn’t need to depend on all those folks, like if I was…

Level 100 makes me the king. There is none higher. Other PCs should call me sire.* (*loosely quoted from Run-DMC) I can solo any mob in the game – dragons, devils, gods, forces of nature, or immortals, I can kill them all. I am finally free of the shackles, the unnecessary hurdles of the limiting game design, I don’t need any help to do anything I want, to get anything I want. In fact, if the entire planet had a health bar over it, I could probably beat it down too. My blade cuts diamonds in half like butter. My arsenal of spells is so powerful, I can’t even call them “nukes” anymore since a thermonuclear detonation would pale by comparison. My armor is impenetrable and even if it were, death does not exist as a possibility for me as I can not only stop, but I can also reverse the flow of time. I have more gold than Gringott’s. I walk through walls, see through time, and am nearly omniscient. The having, the having, the having! It’s so much better than the getting, is it not? Who said a challenge is what keeps the game fun and fresh? Not me.

What do you mean there’s another expansion planned for next month and the max level will go to 150?

Nooooooooooo!


 

 

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