03-Nov-05 Technical Manager’s Column 2 - Skills and Trade in Adellion
One of the thornier issues we had to deal with in creating Adellion was how characters would progress in skill development. I’m not going to go into great depth on our solution in this article, although I may revisit it in a later one, but in one aspect of the process we did come up with a new solution, that I would like to share with you today.
I picked this topic because it gives you a chance to see how we approached some of the issues of Adellion that are not the same as other MMOG’s out there, and how that approach led us to a different solution.
Adellion seeks to have its economy revolving around the players. Trade is a major portion of most games and the establishment of any in-game economy rarely ends up being the original unit of currency that the designers introduce. Usually it focuses around some object that is trades by the players at a fluctuating price. I remember in the original Asheron’s Call ™ the “real” unit of currency for a long time was a silver key that could unlock treasure chests.
In Adellion we introduce six different cultures. Each of which has their own currency. Which means that we expect that rates of exchange will need to be established. However, there is an interesting side effect of studying the interactions of the economy.
We discovered that there is a fundamental breakdown from how real economies function. The breakdown occurs between higher and lower class players.
In most games if a higher-class player makes an item, it will be of superior quality to that of a lower class player. No surprise there. However, in the real world that is not totally the case. There are many items that a person of limited skills can make that are just as good as that of the most skilled person in that class. The item is simply not difficult to make!
However, the breaking point in the game is that higher-level players have no reason to go to lower level players for the acquisition of items. The reason is in the way that items are typically created.
In most games you are sent to gather anywhere from one to six items. Once the items are gathered you invoke your skill level and create the desired item and “Poof!” you have a +26 magic sword of ice beast slaying.
A lower level player usually cannot gather any of the required items, and even if they could get them they cannot make the item in question, or even a poor imitation. The result is that the items that high-level players need can only be gathered by equally high-level players. Cutting off lower level players from higher-level ones.
In real economies this does not happen. The reason is time. It takes time to make things, especially from scratch. A quick visit to the local supermarket will show you the solution. Want to make a pie? You can find piecrusts, cans of pie filling, whipped cream toppings. You can go a step lower and find boxes of piecrust mix, pre-picked fruits, and heavy cream specifically for whipping.
Not as tasty, not as nutritious, but available. The same thing applies if you want to go a step further. You can go out to the local farm and buy fruit that has just been picked, the local dairy and get fresh cream and eggs, and back to the local supermarket for flour, water and salt to make the pie crust
The point is that there are intermediate steps, intermediate products, that can often be made in the creation of any item. Those intermediate items do not require the skill level of the final product. Simply, they can be made by individuals with less skill... those who are learning.
So Adellion will introduce the concept of intermediate items into the skill making process. Instead of making a single giant recipe by gathering a handful of items and preparing it (by yourself) in three seconds, we will require you to create a series of intermediate items which lead to the final product… or you can pay or trade with someone who has made those intermediate products already.
Why do it this way? Why make it take all that extra time?
First, we want the time it takes to make items to be a bit longer than traditional MMOG’s in order to create more intrinsic worth for the player. Something that takes more effort to make means that you value it more.
Second, by introducing intermediate steps we introduce intermediate products. Intermediate products can be created and sold by less skilled individuals. In most cases, they will be of the same quality as if they were created by someone with a very high skill level because the intermediate item will not have a high skill requirement.
Finally, by introducing intermediate products we introduce trade between players of ALL levels. If you have high skill you will generally have more money, more resources. So you can spend your time picking fruit in the fields for your pie… or you can buy a basket of fruit that another lower level player already picked. You can examine the basket of fruit to judge its quality and make sure it meets your needs. If not, buy someone else’s or pick your own. It is your time.
At the bottom line this encourages trade and exchange between players at a much higher rate than traditional MMOG’s. Intermediate items will generally be useful in more than one setting. A basket of fruit might be eaten by a player, rolled into a fruit salad, or used to make a pie. An ingot of iron might be used for a sword, a plowshare, a new frying pan, or sold to a local tinker for patching damaged items.
Players will still be capable of being totally self-sufficient. They can do all parts of a process. But we believe that as they get to higher levels they will want to buy or trade for items that are ingredients in things they want, rather than gather them all from scratch.
This will also lead to genuine guild formation, where players will find a growth path, and a use for the items that they make as a lower level player. Want a cup but don’t have much cash? Go to the local potters guild. They have a range of cups made by different levels of player and they can supply you with something for your cash – or trade item. It might not be as sturdy or as ornate as some of the other cups, but it will be serviceable.
And who knows? Maybe you will find an original cup made by a now famous potter back when he was just starting! It could become a collector’s item (or something to tease him with at a party!)
That is what Adellion is about- real situations, in a not so artificial world.
We’d be interested in hearing your feedback on the idea. So drop into the forums and heap your praise (or derision) on us. Look for you there.
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