I also think of circle tests as largely useless since they're incapable of fairly judging people. At best they just feel unfair, at worst they make people change their training styles to suit the test. So it is a lot of work for something that, even if done perfectly, is going to be flawed. It was pretty clear that 9th and 10th would not only be harder (since there were fewer monsters to choose from) but also affect fewer people, so I put those on hold until we had more monsters at that level. We have a lot more now. If I had been smart I'd have been designing the test while I designed the monsters so that I could design the perfect monsters for the test, put them in the world, then just release the test. But I'm not that smart. 9th and 10th circle tests are still just one of a few vague projects that I should do but don't really feel a motivation to finish.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Fighter Tests
When I took on Fighter Tests I intended to design 7th-10th circle because that was the minimum requirement to give everyone something to strive for. I thought it would be easy, after all you just have to tweak a few scripts and come up with 4 sets of 4 monsters from an already limited selection. It turns out that balanced tests at the correct difficulty level for a good progression are incredibly hard to design and the whole process took many hours more than I predicted.
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A suggestion: Instead of having a fixed set of critters, have an option for letting the fighter choose from 2 (or more) sets.
ReplyDeleteThe sets could be tuned so that some kinds of fighters could deal with them easier than others, so that people could go after the set that they think they have the best chance at soloing.
i.e., you might have a set that would be easiest for High Darkus fighters but would be nigh-impossible for high Detha fighters (or whatever variations you feel appropriate).
As a mostly Evus fighter, I know I took a lot longer to reach most circles than most fighters, but out in the field it didn't really matter (i.e., just because the guy with a zillion Darkus could luck out and kill something in the test before he fell didn't mean he could stay on his feet in the wild nearly as well as I could :).
Mongo
(Yes, that really old crusty guy sleeping in a book fort in the liberry that smells of beer...for those of you that might recognize the name ;).
I know this is an old post, but I now have two 8th circle fighters and I would love them to have something to strive for. 9th and 10th circles would be great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the work already done Slarty :)