07-21-2011, 05:39 AM
A rank based system of power
The Ranks:
D
C
B
A
----
S
----
SS
SSS
M
Rank is determined based on activity (XP earned) over a period of time. The more active you are, the higher your rank will be. Ranks D, C, B, and A are standard. Rank S is obtainable through either excessive performance or a short-term XP-bought 'boost.' SS, SSS, and M are ranks only obtainable during Power Ups.
Time Period
The time period over which your activity is tracked is the last three months. The total is tallied at the end of each month* (?).
*Depends on what the site can do.
Power Ups
Instead of multiplying your power, a Power Up temporarily increases your current rank. The x2 transformation increases rank by one step, the current x3 increases rank by two steps, and the current x4 increases rank by three steps.
The Ranks, their Goals, and what they Mean
M/SSS/SS – Only obtainable through power-ups.
S Rank
Target: ??? XP per quarter. Probably something obscene. You know how Victoria spams sometimes? Probably that. Over three months.
More typical method of access would be a short-term 'buff' that one could buy with XP. Unsure of cost.
A Rank
Target: 60 XP per quarter.
What it means: You are a mover and shaker in sagas. Your power is on the bleeding edge of what's possible. When the world needs a hero, you are at the top of a very short list. Enemies will learn to beware your presence, or they will learn to regret it.
Series Examples: I was going to give series examples, but then I realized that people of A rank would be pretty pissed and find it hard to believe losing to the examples I was giving of D rank (people like Roshi and Bulma).
B Rank
Target: 20 XP per quarter
What it means: Although a second stringer, you are by no means a weakling. Your power far exceeds that of other superhumans, and although you might sometimes have difficulty keeping up with your more obsessed/possessed/driven/crazy companions, you can give even the strongest enemies a good fight and, depending on your abilities, change the tide of battle.
C Rank
Target: 10 XP per quarter
What it means: For whatever reason, you've fallen behind the curve. Maybe something bad has happened in your life and you've stopped training. Maybe you've hit a wall. Maybe you've been too busy having crazy sex with adoring fans. For whatever reason, you're just not as strong as most of the guys around you. Don't worry, though, the Kais love an Underdog. And remember: even little guys can pack a mean punch.
D Rank
Target: 0 XP per quarter
What it means: You might have just awakened your powers, or you might not even be a 'super' at all, but have some nice tech. You might be a retired martial arts master living out your better days in quiet, knowing that other people have shit covered. For current fighters, your friends' growth has so far outstripped your own that they might regard you with pity. Your best bet in fights between Rank As and higher is to stay as far away from them as you can. Still, you can be invaluable in a support role.
Rank Strength and Judgment
Each rank is roughly half-again* the power of the one that preceded it. As usual, the winner of a fight is determined by staff judgment, and whatever would be 'realistic' given power gaps.
*The original idea was 'double,' but it was suggested that it might be too large a jump from rank to rank. I still personally prefer the doubling, because it made Power-Ups really "wicked awesome." However, it is also undeniable that it would feel like someone one or two ranks down really wouldn't have a chance. This is a problem...
... And on second thought, I'm not sure if it's even wise to quantify rank strength in this way.
Other shit:
Weighted Clothing: CA doesn't exist, so that part of this item is pointless. New function: As long as you're wearing this item, you can't fall below Rank C, regardless of how little you train.
Maybe make it expensive.
Eras: The idea behind shifting ranks is that you fall behind because other people are advancing ahead. At some point, maybe every half a year or year, the staff makes a Civilization-style post describing a shift into a new era, making note of the kind of power you can expect from characters now.
Depending on how ops stretch it out, this can be fine. I'm not a super fan of it personally; one day you might return to “everyone is a planet-buster.” But, I suppose, that could be so far into the future that it might not need to be worried about.
Enemy Strength/Quest Difficulty: Is now rated by the number of players of a given rank would be required to complete it. Ie. a Big Bad Evil Guy for a saga might have a difficulty rating of 3SS - meaning it would take approximately three characters at SS rank to meet the challenge.
Why bother with this rank shit?
A recurring problem in sites like this is the fact that newcomers almost invariably have a really tough time getting started. The power gap is currently so wide that it would require the average person something like two years to catch up.
The “well we earned it, so of course we should be that strong” attitude that seemed fine around the time of the reset appears shortsighted in retrospect. Perhaps we envisioned raising the starting CA at some point down the road, but this has not happened, even though it's desperately needed to for a long time now.
With the proposed Rank system, a player retains their character growth (Power Ups, Techs, items, etc.) without letting the actual strength of characters get to the point where newbies can't catch up. If a new player is willing to put in the effort, they can 'get strong' enough to compete in a reasonable amount of time.
Additionally, one of the few good things about the old automated system was that a player HAD to remain active in order to continue accumulating TP. This system has same idea: encouraging people to roleplay, lest they lose their current rank. We kind of have a system like that now – if someone doesn't RP, they don't get XP and CA – but the rate of turnaround on this is extremely low.
I feel that this system would keep people active and make the game more attractive to newbies; however, the staff must absolutely commit to running more player vs. villain(s) sagas.
----
I shared these ideas with Rose and got some feedback on it - namely that the four base ranks could possibly be expanded to five (A, B, C, D, E), with C being an Average fighter. This is very doable - I'm just a fan of keeping things compact.
Other ideas are, of course, welcome.
----
Other crap:
Visual Style
As others have pointed out, our current site is, well, kind of bland. It could do with a bit of sprucing up.
Cast in point: I was going to write that we don't even have CA on our postbits, frowned, flipped over to Chubbs, and realized we did. The eye just passes over it right now.
There are a lot of things you could do with visual design, but some ideas are:
- Percentages for stats on Rosters: I know some people like them. I don't. I think it would be better to switch over to a 'pip' system a la World of Darkness. Give players 10 'pips' to distribute between their stats. (Inner Strength gives 2 additional pips.) These pips could be of any design; I think little Dragonballs, like so:
It's less exact than percentages, and in my mind that's a good thing. Someone shouldn't know to exact percentage points how fast I am relative to someone else. A broader-stroke pip system, IMO, is better.
- Banners for ranks. Make them cool, and make them visible. They should be the most important thing on the postbit after the user's avatar.
- How many Dragonballs a person is carrying should be immediately obvious on their postbit. Not only does it make things clearer for people thinking of getting into the Dragonball race, but it also can become a mark of prestige for the holders, similar to the 'medals' we have now (which are awesome).
----
That's probably as much of a splat as I want to put out there. There's probably a couple dozen things I haven't thought of, but I'll think about them in the morning when I'm not sleepy.
The Ranks:
D
C
B
A
----
S
----
SS
SSS
M
Rank is determined based on activity (XP earned) over a period of time. The more active you are, the higher your rank will be. Ranks D, C, B, and A are standard. Rank S is obtainable through either excessive performance or a short-term XP-bought 'boost.' SS, SSS, and M are ranks only obtainable during Power Ups.
Time Period
The time period over which your activity is tracked is the last three months. The total is tallied at the end of each month* (?).
*Depends on what the site can do.
Power Ups
Instead of multiplying your power, a Power Up temporarily increases your current rank. The x2 transformation increases rank by one step, the current x3 increases rank by two steps, and the current x4 increases rank by three steps.
The Ranks, their Goals, and what they Mean
M/SSS/SS – Only obtainable through power-ups.
S Rank
Target: ??? XP per quarter. Probably something obscene. You know how Victoria spams sometimes? Probably that. Over three months.
More typical method of access would be a short-term 'buff' that one could buy with XP. Unsure of cost.
A Rank
Target: 60 XP per quarter.
What it means: You are a mover and shaker in sagas. Your power is on the bleeding edge of what's possible. When the world needs a hero, you are at the top of a very short list. Enemies will learn to beware your presence, or they will learn to regret it.
Series Examples: I was going to give series examples, but then I realized that people of A rank would be pretty pissed and find it hard to believe losing to the examples I was giving of D rank (people like Roshi and Bulma).
B Rank
Target: 20 XP per quarter
What it means: Although a second stringer, you are by no means a weakling. Your power far exceeds that of other superhumans, and although you might sometimes have difficulty keeping up with your more obsessed/possessed/driven/crazy companions, you can give even the strongest enemies a good fight and, depending on your abilities, change the tide of battle.
C Rank
Target: 10 XP per quarter
What it means: For whatever reason, you've fallen behind the curve. Maybe something bad has happened in your life and you've stopped training. Maybe you've hit a wall. Maybe you've been too busy having crazy sex with adoring fans. For whatever reason, you're just not as strong as most of the guys around you. Don't worry, though, the Kais love an Underdog. And remember: even little guys can pack a mean punch.
D Rank
Target: 0 XP per quarter
What it means: You might have just awakened your powers, or you might not even be a 'super' at all, but have some nice tech. You might be a retired martial arts master living out your better days in quiet, knowing that other people have shit covered. For current fighters, your friends' growth has so far outstripped your own that they might regard you with pity. Your best bet in fights between Rank As and higher is to stay as far away from them as you can. Still, you can be invaluable in a support role.
Rank Strength and Judgment
Each rank is roughly half-again* the power of the one that preceded it. As usual, the winner of a fight is determined by staff judgment, and whatever would be 'realistic' given power gaps.
*The original idea was 'double,' but it was suggested that it might be too large a jump from rank to rank. I still personally prefer the doubling, because it made Power-Ups really "wicked awesome." However, it is also undeniable that it would feel like someone one or two ranks down really wouldn't have a chance. This is a problem...
... And on second thought, I'm not sure if it's even wise to quantify rank strength in this way.
Other shit:
Weighted Clothing: CA doesn't exist, so that part of this item is pointless. New function: As long as you're wearing this item, you can't fall below Rank C, regardless of how little you train.
Maybe make it expensive.
Eras: The idea behind shifting ranks is that you fall behind because other people are advancing ahead. At some point, maybe every half a year or year, the staff makes a Civilization-style post describing a shift into a new era, making note of the kind of power you can expect from characters now.
Depending on how ops stretch it out, this can be fine. I'm not a super fan of it personally; one day you might return to “everyone is a planet-buster.” But, I suppose, that could be so far into the future that it might not need to be worried about.
Enemy Strength/Quest Difficulty: Is now rated by the number of players of a given rank would be required to complete it. Ie. a Big Bad Evil Guy for a saga might have a difficulty rating of 3SS - meaning it would take approximately three characters at SS rank to meet the challenge.
Why bother with this rank shit?
A recurring problem in sites like this is the fact that newcomers almost invariably have a really tough time getting started. The power gap is currently so wide that it would require the average person something like two years to catch up.
The “well we earned it, so of course we should be that strong” attitude that seemed fine around the time of the reset appears shortsighted in retrospect. Perhaps we envisioned raising the starting CA at some point down the road, but this has not happened, even though it's desperately needed to for a long time now.
With the proposed Rank system, a player retains their character growth (Power Ups, Techs, items, etc.) without letting the actual strength of characters get to the point where newbies can't catch up. If a new player is willing to put in the effort, they can 'get strong' enough to compete in a reasonable amount of time.
Additionally, one of the few good things about the old automated system was that a player HAD to remain active in order to continue accumulating TP. This system has same idea: encouraging people to roleplay, lest they lose their current rank. We kind of have a system like that now – if someone doesn't RP, they don't get XP and CA – but the rate of turnaround on this is extremely low.
I feel that this system would keep people active and make the game more attractive to newbies; however, the staff must absolutely commit to running more player vs. villain(s) sagas.
----
I shared these ideas with Rose and got some feedback on it - namely that the four base ranks could possibly be expanded to five (A, B, C, D, E), with C being an Average fighter. This is very doable - I'm just a fan of keeping things compact.
Other ideas are, of course, welcome.
----
Other crap:
Visual Style
As others have pointed out, our current site is, well, kind of bland. It could do with a bit of sprucing up.
Cast in point: I was going to write that we don't even have CA on our postbits, frowned, flipped over to Chubbs, and realized we did. The eye just passes over it right now.
There are a lot of things you could do with visual design, but some ideas are:
- Percentages for stats on Rosters: I know some people like them. I don't. I think it would be better to switch over to a 'pip' system a la World of Darkness. Give players 10 'pips' to distribute between their stats. (Inner Strength gives 2 additional pips.) These pips could be of any design; I think little Dragonballs, like so:
Quote:
- Strength -
- Focus -
- Endurance -
- Agility -
- PP - 7/7
![[Image: DBicon-1.jpg]](http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff137/catseye543/DBicon-1.jpg)
It's less exact than percentages, and in my mind that's a good thing. Someone shouldn't know to exact percentage points how fast I am relative to someone else. A broader-stroke pip system, IMO, is better.
- Banners for ranks. Make them cool, and make them visible. They should be the most important thing on the postbit after the user's avatar.
- How many Dragonballs a person is carrying should be immediately obvious on their postbit. Not only does it make things clearer for people thinking of getting into the Dragonball race, but it also can become a mark of prestige for the holders, similar to the 'medals' we have now (which are awesome).
----
That's probably as much of a splat as I want to put out there. There's probably a couple dozen things I haven't thought of, but I'll think about them in the morning when I'm not sleepy.
![[Image: Bellesig6-1.jpg]](http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff137/catseye543/Bellesig6-1.jpg)