Personally I think it would be great to have items that were only 50% effective when you first equipped them. Over time they “level up” to their full power. The amount of EXP required to fully attune to an item would be based on the item level so a level 50 item on a level 1 character will virtually always be limited to 50%. Based on standard exponential experience to level growth you would need to have a level 50 weapon equipped from level 1 to almost 45 before it is fully attuned but a level 50 could do about a quarter of a levels worth of xp to attune the item.
In addition to mob kill experience requirements to attune an item I think it would also be great to have “feats of strength” requirements that must be done while the item is equipped in order to unlock a portion of its potential. These feats could be ways to exceed the target power of the item, over and above the exp attunement. Basically it turns items into mini contained quests that need to be recompleted if the item is ever traded away. Its also possible that a benefit of the progeny system would be that a feat of strength completed on a parent counts for a child as well but the exp will still need to be earned.
The biggest issue with this becomes the fact that an item switches from just being a string that calls a block from a database to a unique item with its own stats, experience, transfer history and dynamic stats. This could pose a problem from a data storage standpoint and a server load standpoint as the stats are constantly checked, this could possibly be solved by having the item actually having a unique identifier for each tier of attunement and on zoning it checks the current tier of all items.
It could also be an interesting function of the salvage system, salvaging a fully attuned item might give you a different core than a non attuned salvage.
I see plusses and minuses, but on balance I see more minuses to items that are designed to be permanent or semi-permanent and "grow with the character".
The biggest minus is that they tend to be either hard to get (EQ2) or powerful (LOTRO) and thus for all practical purposes virtually unreplacable. Since at level-cap much of a MMO tends to revolve around gear I find that having a slot where you are "stuck with" a particular item reduces the incentive to go out and look for upgrades.
Often a whole system develops of getting things that improve this "permanent" item or let it grow faster. I am not sure we need that extra level of things to do and get.
One of the first games I recall with gear that grew with the character was Dark Ages of Camelot long ago. I remember when people went from focusing on character levels to gear levels and "ding" changed to "ding my pants are level 6" or "ding for my underwear". I found that somewhat ridiculous - I still do.
Yeah top idea, would be great to both 'level' items and to alter/upgrade them.
You could have a basic magic sword be a "Bane" weapon that can be 'attuned'. By killing 50 orcs you could make a weapon "Orc Bane" but if you killed fairies it would end up "Fairy Bane". 50 Wolves would make it wolf bane, but if you were careful to kill 25 wolves and 25 bears and 25 lions it would become "Beast Bane" and give bonuses against all animals.
Especially for Pantheon you could have magic swords that attune to the climate. After 50 kills in the frozen tundra it would become 'frosty' and help your acclimation in hot zones and be bane to firey creatures.
For epics... It would be great to get a plain weapon that is just had a small bonus to begin, but after a few kills it becomes clear it is absorbing the essense of those killed and after some more its stats got better, more kills and you start to get empathic urgings to go somewhere or kill certain types, then after a load more maybe it would become telepathic and tell you of its history and a quest to restore its full glory. Several quest parts could add several small effects ending in it becoming an epic weapon of awesome POWAH!
dorotea said:I see plusses and minuses, but on balance I see more minuses to items that are designed to be permanent or semi-permanent and "grow with the character".
The biggest minus is that they tend to be either hard to get (EQ2) or powerful (LOTRO) and thus for all practical purposes virtually unreplacable. Since at level-cap much of a MMO tends to revolve around gear I find that having a slot where you are "stuck with" a particular item reduces the incentive to go out and look for upgrades.
Often a whole system develops of getting things that improve this "permanent" item or let it grow faster. I am not sure we need that extra level of things to do and get.
One of the first games I recall with gear that grew with the character was Dark Ages of Camelot long ago. I remember when people went from focusing on character levels to gear levels and "ding" changed to "ding my pants are level 6" or "ding for my underwear". I found that somewhat ridiculous - I still do.
LotRO had a very interesting way to upgrade and or collect gear. I do think you could modify to a point its been a few years but that was a fun thing to do. Gather materials and work on your weapons. I don’t recall gear having the same ability, but I would think if the gear has a cap level you would be able to work up to it.
Thinking out loud for he most part but I do see the downside.
Ox