The ability to undo a mistake. A second chance. A do-over. Respecs in mmorpgs are like a magical eraser that allows us to make everything just right. A side effect of respecs is min/maxing. It’s unavoidable to have players always wanting to be the best. Who doesn’t seize every opportunity for the advantage in a competitive game? For the sake of optimism I’ll consider min/maxing to be a benefit as well.
How easy should it be to respec?
Personally I think it should be very easy to respec. There was a time when I was a strong supporter of the “no do-overs” camp. I felt that players should be forced to pick one way of playing and stick with it. I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired of worrying that picking this skill or that ability will cause me to “mess up” my character. The only time I’ve ever felt obsessive compulsive in my entire life has been when I have to decide how to spend my skills in a mmo. Aside from my personal issues, I think making respecs easy to obtain has many more added benefits. We’ve been told by Mythic that in this new specialization system there won’t be any “worthless” ways to spec. That leads me to assume that every line serves a purpose and can be useful. Allowing players to experiment and find what role they want to fill in a group is important. If it’s too difficult to obtain a respec then players will be forced to choose one way as the “best” way. That’s a road better left untraveled.
What’s the best way to offer respecs?
I’ve established a few reasons why easy respecs are good: Diversity and my sanity. How should they be obtained? I think the best way is the simple way. Turning the respec process in to a quest or some other easy but long and drawn out process is a waste of everyone’s time. I’m hesitant to suggest that they drop from mobs because I’ve never liked the idea that respecs can become the next SoJ’s (Diablo reference) and act as currency. “[Joe] says in auction: WTS Respec! PST!” – no. They could be bind on pickup and lootable only by a player who has been flagged by their trainer as seeking a respec. Have respec stones (or whatever you want to call them) drop only for the specific player that way they remain for the individual only; similar to City of Heroes loot system where every mob drops loot for the individual. I think the best way though is to simply make respecs available for a small fee from a trainer. It’s simple. It’s effective. It makes sense. If Mythic is worried about some form of respec abuse place a 24-72 hour timer on them.
Respecs are good.
Keen’s Korner – My WarVault opinion Column
Respecs = Good!
Nothing sucks worse than screwing over your character by making a single bad decision way back at level 5, when you didn’t know any better.
I also agree that it gives people more freedom to explore different avenues of their character rather than sticking to the best cookie-cutter template. For example, 2-handed vs. H2H Savages in DAOC or Holy vs. Shadow Priests in WoW.
It’s nice to be able to switch up your play style for something a bit refreshing.
It depends on the game; on what is dependent on those skills or traits. Facial customization and names, for example, are usually a one-shot deal because to allow alteration afterward would break continuity and enable players to escape social responsibility.
Changing one’s skills could be a problem if content like titles, item rewards, or questlines were bound to those skills. A necromancer title of Death-Eater might seem a little strange on a paladin. A player could be expected to relinquish his title, his typecast armor, and his quest progress when he switches to a new skill-line, but any one of those could potentially be a huge penalty (and all together would be even harsher).
It’s probably better to enable a change of skill focus than a complete change in skill-line. I experienced the capacity for complete change in Star Wars: Galaxies, and such drastic change breaks up the sense of continuity so much that I might as well have been playing with a separate character. I would just allow each character to donate things like money and gear to the player’s alternate characters… then allow changes in skill specialization and emphasis, rather than changing skill-trees.
Or I’d limit respec’ing to only one or two steps backward at a time. So, for example, once you’re level 20, you can’t change the skill decisions you made at level 10, but you can change the decisions you made at level 18. Essentially, that provides a grace period for every skill during which the player can test different possibilities to find the one he prefers. Something like that allows backstepping without breaking continuity (a feeling of progress).
HELLO!!!!
Why have classes, levels, level cap, and either/or choices? Are you really so locked into the AD&D template that you don’t realize that none of that is needed?
Don’t worry about re-spec’s just dump the whole class/level system.
Unfortunately that isn’t going to happen in the next 2-4 years Swift. 🙁 I agree totally that a new system is needed but the games currently in development and slated for release are using a system that needs respecs. Addressing the flaws in the current system is the best we can hope for until someone decides they want to try something new.
@Aaron: I hadn’t anticipated anyone looking at respeccing on that broad a level, but you’re right on many levels. A warrior named Bob should always be a warrior named Bob. If Bob spec’d to use a 2hander but wishes he were spec’d to use his sword and shield, then Bob should be able to reallocate his points and do so without insurmountable barriers being placed before him.
Try Eve. They already eliminated classes and levels, but I’m sure you already know that.
The example of the 2-hander vrs the 1+shield is a good example of a silly restriction. Just because Bob can use a 2-hander, why can’t he also use 1+shield? Just make level caps so high that it’s physically impossible to get maxed out on both, or make it real-world time based so that you don’t have time to do everything. Or even better yet, give players xxxx amount of points/month when they pay for subscription and let them spend it any way they want. Then you could have noobs enter the game with 6 months of skill and increase the chance that they’ll play the game longer than 1 or 2 months.
I can’t remember the name of the game, but I’ve heard of an upcoming game that is skill-based rather than level/class based kinda like Eve. Maybe it was Earth..something?
I was kinda hoping that WAR would move away from the old level/class system at least a little bit.
Everquest 2 has recently implemented a respec device that you can keep in your house, the so-called “AA mirror.” Basically you find an item as a drop from monsters, get a crafter to mojo it into a nice mirror, then you can “save” your current spec to it, then get another spec that you’ll be using a lot. From that point on you can swap between them at will.
The respec mirror is a great example of how developers can be innovative with the systems currently in place. I hope we see the same concept in every game from now on.
Okay, sorry. If the game needs re-spec and it’s impossible to actually fix the problem then I see your point of wanting to talk about the best way to re-spec.
I guess I was just being optimistic that it might be possible to cure the disease rather than treat the symptoms. You’ve read a lot more about WAR than I have, but is it possible that they have some different scheme in mind? Could it be possible that you won’t need to re-spec? If they do it anything like Eve, then there’s no need to re-spec at all. What details do you have about the leveling and class system so far? I haven’t seen any specifics anywhere.
Based on the information they’ve released it seems to be a fairly standard fantasy MMO with classes, levels, and skills. Each class has 3 ways to spec and each of those ways offers a different approach to the class.
Example: Bob the Empire’s Knight of the Blazing Sun can spec to use his sword and shield better or a 2handed axe better. He can use both regardless but if he spends his points on the axe he will be better with it. (Purely an example. I made it up but it’s basically accurate for explanatory purposes)
Since they are using a system like that, I feel it’s necessary to offer characters an easy and convenient way of switching their points around in order to avoid min/maxing and the frustration of finding out your character is ruined because you spent points at level 5 by mistake.
I can’t explain why yet, but your sword and shield example makes me think perhaps respec’ing should not apply equally to all skills. I like the concept of item mastery skills, but it seems that switching gear preferences should be a quicker and smoother change than switching complex actions.
I would probably divide skills into tiers, then make some tiers quicker and easier to respec than others. What do you think?
Skills are definitely divided in to tiers naturally. Reqirements of level and prereq skills are likely in place. I’m hesitant to think that some tiers could be quicker and easier to respec because that means some tiers could be longer and more difficult – which would discourage experimentation.
A different system all together would work better with this idea. Make your weapon skills specialized one way, your spells another, and your resistances/armor in another.
Perhaps as you level and use weapons in pvp you gain abilities better for those weapons in PvP. Specialization could then become a natural and comfortable process. Spells and resistances could then be the standard tree.
I just wanted to link really quickly to an example of how WAR will be doing specialization. From the Chaos Chosen Page:
Path of Dread
The Path of Dread is focused on directly and brutally crushing your foes. A master of Dread will be likely to favor a Greatweapon instead of a shield, greatly increasing their offensive power at the cost of sacrificing the protections that a shield would otherwise offer. They will be easily capable of picking up a shield when the situation calls for it…but they won’t be happy about it.
Path of Corruption
The Patch of Corruption is a cunning Mastery for those who prefer to outlast their enemies, letting their foes beat in futility on a massive shield until they’re exhausted, and then crushing them with deliberate and vicious attacks. A specialist in Corruption will be the person who defines where the lines of battle will be drawn, since they -are- the front lines.
Path of Discord
The Path of Discord is one that delves more deeply into Tzeentch’s gifts, and masters of Discord more fully understand how to manipulate the Chaos forces that swirl within them. They can unleash blasts of magical power, or twist the magical energies to unnaturally enhance their melee attacks. Their understanding of the nature of magic is still relatively shallow, however, and they can not hope to approach the skill or power of a true magus, but even their brief flashes of otherworldly energy are enough to empower them as potent melee combatants.
Path of Dread it is!