Helton
Arcane
Path of Exile is an action RPG in the vain of Diablo 2. It has a number of interesting systems but the one I wish to discuss in particular is its Passive Skill Tree. Here is a picture of its current incarnation:
Passive Skill Tree Article
Introduction (if you've never played PoE):
A relatively recent addition to the skill tree are empty "jewel nodes". Jewels are items and have random properties like most other items. They are generally in the same range of power as a "super-node" but can be much more specialized. A few of these nodes can usually be picked up trivially as you navigate the tree, but they can be powerful enough to be worth going out of your way for certain builds. These allow for significant customization.
Some jewels are "unique" in that their properties are not random, and they more resemble keystone passives with both positive and negative effects which significantly alter playstyle. Some of these unique jewels have a "radius" and their effects are determined by the skills nearby on the skill tree.
And this is where jewels start to get very interesting. There is a unique jewel called "intuitive leap" which allows you to take skills within a radius of the jewel which you had not connected to normally. This is the first "navigation jewel", whose only purpose is to help you navigate the skill tree.
I hope to see more of such jewels, for instance a "tunnel jewel" which, at the cost of two valuable jewel slots, will let you traverse across vast distances in the skill tree.
And this skill system, complete with navigation jewels, is what I want to discuss. This is a superior character development system. There have been several nights where I couldn't sleep because my mind was active theory-crafting slight improvements to a build I found online.
Most character development systems involve a combination of stat-distribution and feat-selection.
Stat-distribution suffers from being too fine, too coarse, or both at once. There are a couple dichotomies:
1. Lots of 'points' versus few 'points'. In fallout or DnD terms, "skills" versus "attributes". In the former case, each individual skill point doesn't matter much. In the latter, there is not much viable variation between characters.
2. Macro versus Micro abstraction. If you only have a few stats, and most characteristics are derived from those stats, your player's choices are boring and distant. If they want more run speed but don't care about criticals, they have to put points in dexterity all the same. On the other hand, if you allow them to change such stats directly it can be a) overwhelming and b) difficult to impossible to balance.
The feat system holds up better, in my opinion, and is more similar to PoE's skill city. The trouble generally is:
1. Too few available feats. A given character might only be able to make 10 or 15 feat choices.
2. Lots of useless feats.
3. Too many options too soon. Even if all of the feats are good and worth considering, there are usually so many available at character creation or in the first few levels that it can be daunting, and this perhaps before you even understand the game's mechanics to adequately analyze them. (Underrail is a great example of this last concern)
The skill city fixes this because:
1. Simple at the beginning. A first time player picks an archetype, and has literally only 2 options for their first level. Complexity increases geometrically from there, but so does the player's understanding of what is needed for their play style. There is a huge diversity of builds and choices, but the player isn't given those choices until they have an informed opinion on the outcomes.
2. The player can directly target those skills they want to prioritize, but only to a certain amount. They can't just pump points into runspeed every level, but they can target that specific effect in the relevant nodes, and shun the non-relevant critical strike nodes nearby.
3. By midgame the player has a very fine granularity of choices. Yet each choice is either specifically improving the stats they want, or navigating to nodes which will. Every point matters, and there are LOTS of points.
The outcome is that players have lots of viable choices, huge variety in builds, very direct control of the stats they care about, but the developer also has a reasonable grasp on what is obtainable. If you want to soft or hard cap runspeed, you can. You can quantify every node. And all of the freedom and complexity need not worry you when you first start playing, because early advancement is very gated.
The system is amazing and I'm having trouble going back to other RPGs, despite being bored of the action-oriented gameplay. I really hope to see this system used in other games, with different gameplay focuses, and paired up with other systems.
Edit: BTW, Path of Exile is free of you want to try it out and see what I mean. https://www.pathofexile.com/
Introduction (if you've never played PoE):
Every character class shares this tree, but begins in a different location on it. The nodes in each area have a general theme, which is what gives each class its particular style, but most effects have relevant nodes all over the map in various densities.
Not all nodes are equal. Many nodes offer a generic attribute boost and serve the primary purpose of navigating to more valuable nodes. There are neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs of nodes which have similar or related boosts, usually capped off with a kind of "super-node" which gives those boosts in higher effect. Much of character development is effectively collecting relevant "super-nodes".
Then there are "keystone passives", which fundamentally alter the way a character is played. A keystone might remove all of a characters mana and allow them to cast spells using health; or else remove all of a characters health but make them immune to shield-piercing attacks; or perhaps prevent a character from dealing direct damage, but increase his number of sources for indirect damage. Many character concepts are built entirely around one or two keystone passives, and navigating to them often determines which other nodes are feasible to take.
Not all nodes are equal. Many nodes offer a generic attribute boost and serve the primary purpose of navigating to more valuable nodes. There are neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs of nodes which have similar or related boosts, usually capped off with a kind of "super-node" which gives those boosts in higher effect. Much of character development is effectively collecting relevant "super-nodes".
Then there are "keystone passives", which fundamentally alter the way a character is played. A keystone might remove all of a characters mana and allow them to cast spells using health; or else remove all of a characters health but make them immune to shield-piercing attacks; or perhaps prevent a character from dealing direct damage, but increase his number of sources for indirect damage. Many character concepts are built entirely around one or two keystone passives, and navigating to them often determines which other nodes are feasible to take.
Some jewels are "unique" in that their properties are not random, and they more resemble keystone passives with both positive and negative effects which significantly alter playstyle. Some of these unique jewels have a "radius" and their effects are determined by the skills nearby on the skill tree.
And this is where jewels start to get very interesting. There is a unique jewel called "intuitive leap" which allows you to take skills within a radius of the jewel which you had not connected to normally. This is the first "navigation jewel", whose only purpose is to help you navigate the skill tree.
I hope to see more of such jewels, for instance a "tunnel jewel" which, at the cost of two valuable jewel slots, will let you traverse across vast distances in the skill tree.
And this skill system, complete with navigation jewels, is what I want to discuss. This is a superior character development system. There have been several nights where I couldn't sleep because my mind was active theory-crafting slight improvements to a build I found online.
Most character development systems involve a combination of stat-distribution and feat-selection.
Stat-distribution suffers from being too fine, too coarse, or both at once. There are a couple dichotomies:
1. Lots of 'points' versus few 'points'. In fallout or DnD terms, "skills" versus "attributes". In the former case, each individual skill point doesn't matter much. In the latter, there is not much viable variation between characters.
2. Macro versus Micro abstraction. If you only have a few stats, and most characteristics are derived from those stats, your player's choices are boring and distant. If they want more run speed but don't care about criticals, they have to put points in dexterity all the same. On the other hand, if you allow them to change such stats directly it can be a) overwhelming and b) difficult to impossible to balance.
The feat system holds up better, in my opinion, and is more similar to PoE's skill city. The trouble generally is:
1. Too few available feats. A given character might only be able to make 10 or 15 feat choices.
2. Lots of useless feats.
3. Too many options too soon. Even if all of the feats are good and worth considering, there are usually so many available at character creation or in the first few levels that it can be daunting, and this perhaps before you even understand the game's mechanics to adequately analyze them. (Underrail is a great example of this last concern)
The skill city fixes this because:
1. Simple at the beginning. A first time player picks an archetype, and has literally only 2 options for their first level. Complexity increases geometrically from there, but so does the player's understanding of what is needed for their play style. There is a huge diversity of builds and choices, but the player isn't given those choices until they have an informed opinion on the outcomes.
2. The player can directly target those skills they want to prioritize, but only to a certain amount. They can't just pump points into runspeed every level, but they can target that specific effect in the relevant nodes, and shun the non-relevant critical strike nodes nearby.
3. By midgame the player has a very fine granularity of choices. Yet each choice is either specifically improving the stats they want, or navigating to nodes which will. Every point matters, and there are LOTS of points.
The outcome is that players have lots of viable choices, huge variety in builds, very direct control of the stats they care about, but the developer also has a reasonable grasp on what is obtainable. If you want to soft or hard cap runspeed, you can. You can quantify every node. And all of the freedom and complexity need not worry you when you first start playing, because early advancement is very gated.
The system is amazing and I'm having trouble going back to other RPGs, despite being bored of the action-oriented gameplay. I really hope to see this system used in other games, with different gameplay focuses, and paired up with other systems.
Edit: BTW, Path of Exile is free of you want to try it out and see what I mean. https://www.pathofexile.com/