Slightly inspired by a complaint leveled at menus/leveling systems in another thread recently (but moreso another futile set of chest compressions and a couple breaths into the near-lifeless body of this site,) how do you prefer to spend your experience points? There are myriad specific types, but I believe most boil down to a couple generic categories: base stat increases and one-time perks of increasing benefit. I?ve missed one or more I?m sure, so please feel free to offer them up and explain/comment.
Base Stat Increases: The method wherein you?ve got several base states (e.g.: Strength, Magic, etc.) and as you acquire XP through various methods, you eventually earn enough to increase one or more stats a single level for negligible benefit, the idea being that cumulatively, multiple increases in a single stat are necessary to yield appreciable benefits, i.e.: going from 5 to 6 in STR might not make much of a difference, but the difference between 5 and 15 in STR is life or death.
One-Time Perks of Increasing Benefit: The method wherein you still earn an equivalent of XP, but instead of increasing a single stat, you are awarded a ?perk? or like analogue (often within a skill tree type set up) that awards you immediate and appreciable benefits. E.g.: the first might unlock Fire damage in a skill tree leading to increasingly powerful fire-based skills and defenses, effectively changing how you affect the game world and not so much how much so as in a stats based system.
I think I fall into the latter category, at least I think I want to, but either works well if done correctly. I feel like I work to earn XP; something about finally spending it to do, what, TWO more points of damage to an enemy? And having to do that multiple times before I can finally say I feel like the grind has paid off? I think Dark Souls does this method best simply because, particularly early on, it?s easy to pump a single stat for quicker benefit as you tailor your build, then pad supporting stats as the game progresses (a hard lesson to wrap your head around when you?re new to the franchise.) Downsides of perk progression systems though is that often, particularly powerful/significant perks cost multiple ?points? or they?ve got myriad, intermediary ?meh? perks that are required to unlock and you find yourself going long periods without the ?a-HA!? moments. It?s also harder to feel you?re truly customizing your experience when you?re progressing with ?off the shelf? bonuses, but again, when a perk or two significantly changes the way you play, it can serve to keep gameplay fresh, something I felt Borderlands and Deus Ex: Human Revolution did really well.
Base Stat Increases: The method wherein you?ve got several base states (e.g.: Strength, Magic, etc.) and as you acquire XP through various methods, you eventually earn enough to increase one or more stats a single level for negligible benefit, the idea being that cumulatively, multiple increases in a single stat are necessary to yield appreciable benefits, i.e.: going from 5 to 6 in STR might not make much of a difference, but the difference between 5 and 15 in STR is life or death.
One-Time Perks of Increasing Benefit: The method wherein you still earn an equivalent of XP, but instead of increasing a single stat, you are awarded a ?perk? or like analogue (often within a skill tree type set up) that awards you immediate and appreciable benefits. E.g.: the first might unlock Fire damage in a skill tree leading to increasingly powerful fire-based skills and defenses, effectively changing how you affect the game world and not so much how much so as in a stats based system.
I think I fall into the latter category, at least I think I want to, but either works well if done correctly. I feel like I work to earn XP; something about finally spending it to do, what, TWO more points of damage to an enemy? And having to do that multiple times before I can finally say I feel like the grind has paid off? I think Dark Souls does this method best simply because, particularly early on, it?s easy to pump a single stat for quicker benefit as you tailor your build, then pad supporting stats as the game progresses (a hard lesson to wrap your head around when you?re new to the franchise.) Downsides of perk progression systems though is that often, particularly powerful/significant perks cost multiple ?points? or they?ve got myriad, intermediary ?meh? perks that are required to unlock and you find yourself going long periods without the ?a-HA!? moments. It?s also harder to feel you?re truly customizing your experience when you?re progressing with ?off the shelf? bonuses, but again, when a perk or two significantly changes the way you play, it can serve to keep gameplay fresh, something I felt Borderlands and Deus Ex: Human Revolution did really well.