quote:Original post by Way Walker
The enemy''s level was determined by the average of your party, so the benchwarmers (with some help from Mr. lvl76) weren''t screwed.

Aha. that would definitely smooth out part of my complaint with the system, but even then the idea of self-improvement within the game is seriously harmed by the fact that no amount of levelling will actually give you an edge.

quote:Original post by Way Walker
As for not wanting to make them stronger, then don''t run in a circle for an hour levelling up. "It hurts when I do this" "So don''t do that..."

Point taken, but why would a designer of an RPG intentionally undermine the primary means of character development that defines the genre? Why not just take levelling out, instead of crippling it that way? After all, if my objective is to kill the evil king, and we''re always going to be evenly matched, then I may as well just saunter up to the gate and demand a duel while we''re both on level 1.

What happens is the level of your characters becomes a purely vestigial property, and the only real obstacle between you and the end of the game is the story and maybe whatever magic spells or skills you need to properly match the villain. Again, you''d be better off taking levelling out entirely and bestowing those skills at scripted points in the story, so that players will never have to run in circles farming XP.

The problem is that many players, myself included, like to buff out the characters in the game. I''m not a huge fan of conventional FF-style levelling, and I think the sphere grid might be a step in the right direction, but I''d rather have some kind of buffing included and functional than turn the whole thing into a vestigial illusion.

quote:Original post by Iron Chef Carnage
Aha. that would definitely smooth out part of my complaint with the system, but even then the idea of self-improvement within the game is seriously harmed by the fact that no amount of levelling will actually give you an edge.

I think bosses had both min and max levels, so you had to be at least a certain level and you could out level them.

quote:
Point taken, but why would a designer of an RPG intentionally undermine the primary means of character development that defines the genre?

Because many threads like this one complain about the inconsistencies levelling brings (e.g. Early bosses are weaker than the enemies you consider a waste of your time by the end of the game). Can''t have your cake and eat it, too.

quote:
Why not just take levelling out,

Indeed. I would like to see a Fallout style game where you chose your specialty at the beginning and that was your character for the rest of the game.

quote:
What happens is the level of your characters becomes a purely vestigial property, and the only real obstacle between you and the end of the game is the story

Most people I meet who like RPGs say they play for the story I always wondered why they don''t just read a book. (I prefer the character cultivation aspects, myself)

some good elements are a great story line. if you want to make a nice final fantasy clone it needs to have a good storyline. also there should be secret prizes and puzzles to solve like finding the legendary weapons in ffX. the game should have movie scenes in certain area of the game and many secrets.