Topic Important Announcements (1)
Message Soft Level Cap Implementation (134)
By SIMU-MELISSA@PLAY.NET (GM Llearyn)
On May 21, 2001 at 16:05
On May 31st, on the day of the release of the first Elven Nations expansion and the Artisan's Guild, we will be implementing a soft level cap in GemStone III.
A level cap is a limit on the amount of experience that a player may earn. We term this cap "soft" as the cap will be increased as GemStone III becomes further developed. The cap will be set at the level at which a player can legitimately earn experience via the killing of creatures in combat (ten levels above the highest existing creature which is regularly available within the game.)
We find that the current system that allows players to advance beyond this level is unbalanced and difficult to maintain. Further, it is nearly impossible to develop for a small group of players who are so sparsely spread across an enormous range of levels (160-250).
It is our firm belief that gaining high levels should be an option for any realistically viable character, regardless of training and profession. Further, it was never our intention that a person spend countless hours and days picking low level treasure chests in order to earn great power (and even prestige.) This method is not what we would consider a fun or compelling advancement method.
Recent experiences with some in-game events have shown the staff (and we believe many players as well) that a level cap would be in the best interest of the roleplaying community.
As a result of adding a level cap, developing high-level areas will become a more efficient use of our resources, and thus become more common. This will enable us to control high level unbalancing elements from entering the game, as we will have the opportunity to develop and prepare the high level "experience" before players are actually able to achieve it.
Prior to recent changes brought by the Growing Pains Initiative, we were unable to create any creatures of higher level. Faced with the prospect of not being able to offer regular advancement options, we chose to not put a level cap in place. However, with the Growing Pains changes under way, we are already able to develop creatures up to 20 levels older than before. Should our goal for the Growing Pains Initiative come to pass, we will eventually be able to offer creatures as high as level 300.
In addition, the implementation of the Artisan's Guild will offer all characters an opportunity to grow and advance in the game in new and unique ways. While a minute number of players may be unable to gain experience via hunting until the level cap is raised, they will be able to advance new skills made available by the Artisan's system.
Currently, our schedule for the soft level cap includes the implementation of a cap at level 143 on May 31st. Three months later, on August 31st, the cap will be increased to level 160 with the addition of new creatures in the second Elven Nations expansion. At the current time, we have no further plans.
Players who reach the level cap after it is set will be unable to gain any experience beyond that level. Players who are above the level cap will be unable to gain any experience after the cap is set ... until the cap is raised above their current level.
As compensation to those players affected by the cap, we will be granting those characters a new title. This title will only be available to characters that meet or exceed the current level cap, even after the level cap changes. In addition, we will be adding new level titles at 50, 100, and 150 (similar to the existing Lord/Lady title at 20.)
There will be additional compensation granted to those characters that are above the cap when it is raised on August 31st, as we are unsure when we will be raising the cap again after that. The number of players who currently are above level 160 is small. We will be contacting each of them personally in order to discuss the details.
The new soft level cap will only affect a very small number of you, however, we do understand that this will be of great concern to everyone. We know that it has taken a great deal of investment (in both time and money) in order to achieve these high levels. We are sorry for any inconvenience that may be caused by this regrettable necessity.
Melissa Callaway and the Senior Staff of GemStone III
reg
