Let me start this off by saying this, StarBound does NOT need a level up system (we all know how fast that can kill PvP and exploration.) however I am not adverse to the idea of characters having non-combat related skills, such as researching new blueprints, or repairing vehicles, but nothing directly combat related such as stealth or accuracy, these skills could be leveled up by both equipment and by doing them, also i feel that some ability to choose a couple of perks or augment a characters base stats might be nice, for example, maybe i can give up some of my max health to have more energy, and then take a perk that reduces cooldowns by 10% or so but lowers my attack speed, these changes would be solely during character creation so every character, without equipment, would be evenly matched (assuming there is not some equivalent to crystal hearts/Heart Containers in the game) I feel this well make characters feel more unique, and less flat like they did in Terraria (sorry for using the T-word). edit: to clarify perks would be exclusive to character creation, you'd pick a couple when making your character and that's all you get, ever.
I actually like the idea of leveling up. Leveling up should be a really hard to do, however, give the player only a slight amount of bonus, and experience is limited per enemy (as in, killing 10.000 slimes would be the maximun, the 10.001th slime and so on would give you no experience) However, killing a amount of creatures/studying gathered materials/observating behaviors should not only go to your Encyclopedia, but also give you experience points toward knowledge about that creature. When you "level up" this knowledge you get certain bonus against these creatures (like damage, defense, less stun/snare/debuffs from their special attacks). Also rising skills and choosing perks is just basically leveling up. The trick of make a level up system that isnt easily exploitable/wont affect much gameplay is making it not matter much and be rather hard to come by, or make it pure asthetic (like, consider level as ranks)
A. If leveling is hard and only gives a small bonus then playing becomes grinding, if you incentivize something that people enjoy doing they well think of it as work and stop enjoying it. B. The creature studying is an excellent idea, i really like that. C. The skills would all be non combat related, think like the skills in the Sims series, and would not contribute to any of your stats, the perks would only be part of character creation, after you choose your starting perks at the beginning that's all you get.
Then make experience gaining based on amount of new things you witness/encounter.But there will always be people that want to grind in games to get all the items/levels/worlds . Making it so it wont matter much is just a way, might not work out to everyone. And how exactly these skills you say would work then?
researching new blueprints and repairing vehicles could be skill examples, crafting skills are also possible.
Just like you say Joxalot, if there's going to be level system i hope it will be a non-grinding system like EVE online or Haven and Hearth. I never liked the "normal" level systems that much to be honest.
I don't mind a level-up system if the levels really don't help you much. If the difference between a level one character and a level cap is a 20% damage difference versus non-human-controlled characters, 10% greater passive radiation resistance, and the ability to hold your breath for an additional 10 seconds, I'm in support. Basically, a level-up system that doesn't really change anything, but gives you a bonus or so (a little damage resistance, environmental balances) without changing "PvP," is fine.
I'd rather not have a level-up system in which your character is directly influenced by experience, but I would like to see some sort of research tech buildings/rooms. Improving the items that give you stats/skills I can see, but even leveling non-combat skill is something I'd like be careful with. Here's a quote of mine from this similar topic: Just have a tech tree for every category of skills you'd like to expand on, though I would like to see some way to stop people from just getting gear from others and becoming instantly 'Uberfied'. Maybe a DNA Modification tech tree that allows the creation of certain items that will allow a one-time use to attach bind a specific item(alien or higher leveled) to the character. To use this equipment secondhand, an item higher in the tech tree could be used by the new user to assign a new bound status. This would require new users to at least play long enough to do the research in DNA Modification.
I have no problem with a research system that improves your gear. The only problem with having a game where your strength is determined by gear, is that people can essentially be powered leveled in the amount of time it takes to drop the best gear. So a system in place to prevent you from using over powered gear at the beginning of the game would be nice. Whether that is in the form of level-ups or not is up to the developers. Perhaps you have to research the tech before you can use it? Makes sense and is easy to put into a game that is advertised as having research anyhow. (Maybe this is their plan?)
Maybe a sort of block to make certain that you won't proficiently use high-powered gear for a while? Granted, though, I can't think of a way to do that without a level system. It sounds like somehow learning how to use certain weapons would be the best way to go. I can't actually see modifying my DNA to use weapons though... maybe in that case you'd need to learn how to modify a certain race's weapons to suit your race. For example, a human might learn how to make an electromagnetic trigger to fire a weapon made for a telepathic race. This would be done with research and obtaining the right parts AND the weapon in it's basic form, then crafting them together. I'll post a picture here at the first opportunity.
I agree. Though they have a point with OP weapons. At very least, the devs should try to make max tier gear more level, rather than have one weapon to rule them all.
I mean I'm hoping Starbound won't have a BFG so that any variant of it is pretty much the best you're going to get. I hate BFGs because using anything but them is a bad idea... so I'm forced into using them.
