When the average player hears MMORPG, they think of levels, classes and the inevitable treadmill. Wish rebels against all of these 'norms' and, in the style of games like Ultima Online, moves towards a very open and liberal skill system. In Wish, players improve their characters through performing actions, not through experience allocated upon a creature's death. This element, combined with the game's flat power curve, ensures that players have an unprecedented amount of character customization and the ability to play with each other regardless of skill level.
The largest social roadblock that can be found with MMORPGs is a situation where two characters cannot play together and still be effective and/or advance their characters. This should never happen. In Wish, it is the players who determine who they can group with, not the skill levels of their characters. A player with approximately 50 in the majority of his or her skills is less than 10 times as strong as a character that carries approximately 10 in their skills. This means that when grouping together, despite a gap that would make working together inconceivable in the average MMORPG, both players can improve their skills and have a solid positive effect on the group.
Since players can participate and contribute from any skill level, there is little value in going out and mindlessly grinding skills up in hope of being able to have fun. Although there is obviously some advantage to having higher skills, the difference between one level and the next is low enough that players can simply play the game to have fun and let their skills take care of themselves. Like in pen and paper and single-player RPGs, the skills become the mechanics that make the world work, not the focus of the game itself. Instead, the focus is on story, socialization and fun.
The Professions System
There are a great number of professional trainers to which players can apprentice themselves upon entering the world. These people can teach practical applications of the various skills. Weapons trainers teach attack feats, crafting trainers teach recipes, etc. These trainer skills are supplemented by a host of attributes (strength, constitution, etc.) and secondary skills that do not require a trainer to learn, such as parrying.
Any player can be apprenticed to as many as three trainers at any given time, with the ability to drop apprenticeships for new ones, or take on additional apprenticeships as they advance up the ranks of their original three. While training in these professions, players accumulate ability points, which they can then use to train themselves in new attack feats, magical spells, gathering techniques or crafting recipes. Abilities are the practical application of skills. In the case of combat and gathering, there are also enhancements, which can be plugged into feats or techniques players have learned to enhance their effectiveness. Here is a brief introduction to the different things players can learn with ability points:
1. Attack Feats: These are special attack strategies players can learn with the various weapons in our world. They all carry distinct advantages and disadvantages. The trick for the player is to balance these according to their play style. Most attack feats can be modified with different enhancements. Wish includes many different combat types, such as swords, maces, flails, spears, pole arms, javelins, hammers, bows, crossbows, slings and unarmed combat, to name some.
2. Crafting Recipes: These are the plans from which players construct items. Players gather together the resources and pump out the final products. The system is designed so that players do not need to produce hundreds of useless items to advance. Players are also able to sell their items, even from low levels. The crafter's skill level determines what grade of materials he or she can work with, which, in turn, determines the quality of the product. As a result, high-level players cannot simply force low-level characters out of the newbie item market. The system ensures that each has their own viable place. Players can become alchemists, weaponsmiths, armorsmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters, bowyers, tailors, tinkerers, cooks and much more. |
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3. Gathering Techniques: Players need to gather materials to supply the crafters and feed the economy. As players advance, trainers teach different techniques to aid in the gathering of resources. There are some limited enhancements that can be used as well. Our gathering professions include foraging, lumberjacking, mining and fishing.
4. Magical Spells: Wish boasts a very plentiful magic system, full of spells that grow with players as they advance. To cast a spell, a players must first learn it, and then carry the proper reagents. Spell professions include natural magic, sorcery, necromancy and divine magic.
5. Musical Performance: Another distinct profession is Ganedan's bards. These performers aid their allies and perplex their enemies with a slew of distinct songs to be played across a wealth of medieval instruments, such as lutes, bagpipes and drums.
The abilities and feats system ensures that players will always be able to use their hard-earned abilities. Rather than choosing to create a system where we invalidate old abilities by creating a second version of them, we have chosen to make all abilities useful for the entire life of the character. Abilities grow with players, and with enhancements, can evolve beyond what they may originally have thought possible.
There are five ranks of progression in each profession. Within each rank is a new set of abilities and enhancements for the player to consider, as well as new materials to work with or reagents to use. The ranks are:
- Apprentice: between 1-9 skill
- Journeyman: between 10-19 skill
- Master: between 20-29 skill
- Grand Master: between 30-39 skill
- Elder: between 40-50 skill
The Elder rank, in addition to new abilities, also allows players to take on apprentices of their own. This way, if a player has earned a recipe that is either extremely rare or even unique, they are able to teach a younger generation of players all that they know.
The intent of our open skill system is to break down the social roadblocks that have plagued the MMO genre. Players are never excluded from a group based on skill level. Additionally, the system allows for a wealth of customization, making each character unique in more than just their hairstyle. The absence of cookie cutter classes ensures that each character has something unique to contribute to the group.
Matthew Newhook
Lead Developer and President of MR Canada
Originally posted July 22nd, 2004 on the RPG Vault. |
