Stat decay is garbage, here is something better

[overtyped]

-I've seen alot of discussion about stat decay, and it has many good points, and probably will help put noobs and pro's get closer to each other, but there is a fatal flaw.(ex) Xcom used to have a system where every level was time limited, but that was removed and instead changed to give points the faster you complete the level. The reason is obvious
It punishes. You don't punish people for being too slow, instead you reward them for being fast. Punishing people for playing your game, makes them not want to play.


Instead, i would suggest two changes which work well together.

-The first is a static hardcap on stats and skills that increases every day by 5,( or whatever you want) starting at 100. So after a year the most you could see is 1975 in one stat or skill. This cap slows everything down a little bit. The longer the world goes, the higher Q curios and food there are. So the "gap" between pro's and noobs is easily kept closer, so the increasing cap won't hurt so bad/

This especially helps in the early world, where the behemoths are racing to make titans, now they gotta take it a bit easier, and makes casuals and noobs feel like they have a chance.

The second is an idea ctopolon3 wrote. Which yet again closes the gap between noobs and pro's even more

ctopolon3 wrote:
mb just implement FAT system (like hunger, but permanent)
<100 stats 300% FEP
<250 stats 200% FEP
<700 stats 100% FEP
<2500 stats 80% FEP
<10k stats 50% FEP
>10k stats 25% FEP

Combined together, on paper it seems good.

This is how you close a gap without punishing people, without feeling like you are wasting resources just to not lose your stats.

[azrid]

+1 better than we have right now

[synaris]

stats already affect feps needed, lets not change that.

a hardcap rising every day is something i could get behind.

[Luanes]

That's another fair and simple solution. But you know if this number are achievable for pro players or just botting players? And we need to take note that it will affect hard the metal industry since some of their "quality increases" are based on % and not raw quality. Still, like the idea.

[waga]

So you want me to play 10 minutes per day ?
sure why not it will allow me to have a life I guess :^)

[ricky]

I like the idea of a dynamic hardcap, but it ends up punishing the aspies who like to nolife.

I would instead suggest World Goals: server wide quests which when completed raise the stat cap by 50-100. Whether these goals be completely new (overworld bosses, anyone?) Or similar to current quests, but on a much larger scale such as study 1500 straw dolls(sort of encourages alts though), or gain 1000 points in X stat.

Hell, if they're difficult enough, we might even see

cooperation

[overtyped]

I like the idea of a dynamic hardcap, but it ends up punishing the aspies who like to nolife.

I would instead suggest World Goals: server wide quests which when completed raise the stat cap by 50-100. Whether these goals be completely new (overworld bosses, anyone?) Or similar to current quests, but on a much larger scale such as study 1500 straw dolls(sort of encourages alts though), or gain 1000 points in X stat.

Hell, if they're difficult enough, we might even see

cooperation

It doesn't punish the aspies because they aren't gonna not be rock bottom. No matter the punishment you give em, they won't get any lower. Even if they can grind 24/7 at the end of the day they are still autistic.
"World goal is gonna be rife with abuse."

[Granger]

It punishes. Punishing people for playing your game, makes them not want to play.

The current system has the same effect, it's just not visible in the character sheet numbers but manifests in the relentless grind you'll have to keep up or fall back forever without any chance to recover. While stat decay looks 'punishing' (and I don't deny that, that's why I push the discussions around it in the attempt to get people to come up with something that works but is more palatable) it has the definitive upside that you can slow down (or take a break) should you feel like it but are able to pick up the pace later and get back to par with the other characters that didn't stop - something that all the ideas of the ones that scream 'punishes' completely lack, plus they also fail at addressing the side-effects (see below).

This is how you close a gap without punishing people, without feeling like you are wasting resources just to not lose your stats.

No, you also waste resources on raising your numbers to not lose your stats - the delta of them compared to stats of the others, to be precise.
Same waste of resources just with ever increasing numbers that, as a side effect, destroy the ability to meaningful interact with the world (and the other players that don't do the epeen enlargment grind).

Combined together, on paper it seems good.

No, dosn't look good on paper. While it might lower the gap at the beginning of a world it dosn't solve the issues as it dosn't scale to an eternal world:
People who come late would still be discouraged by huge existing numbers. Also it dosn't solve the problem with world resources (foraging) becoming irrelevant and the problem with running out of challenging mobs as at some point you can simply cut them down without effort and risk.

Limiting stats and item qualities to lower (at best mid) 3-digit figures could solve these problem though, if done in a way that rewards playing (both smart and time investment).

[overtyped]

This is how you close a gap without punishing people, without feeling like you are wasting resources just to not lose your stats.

No, you also waste resources on raising your numbers to not lose your stats - the delta of them compared to stats of the others, to be precise.
Same waste of resources just with ever increasing numbers that, as a side effect, destroy the ability to meaningful interact with the world (and the other players that don't do the epeen enlargment grind).
.

Wrong, there is a big difference here.

For example, when xcom changed the system from levels having a time limit to having no time limit but giving points for completing it quicker, they basically did nothing, it's the same amount of points

Don't underestimate the feeling of being punished, even if it's only psychological. It leaves a bad taste in most peoples mouths.
You see it logically that stat decay helps everyone, but when they see their stats going down every day, they will only feel like it's a pointless grind since you are constantly losing what you gained.
If you want an idea for an eternal world, think of a better way.

[Robben_DuMarsch]

You're absolutely right, Bob.
There is a negative reaction to seeing your stats go down.
People don't want to think that their successes are temporary.

The question then becomes, how do we get the decay in the game but trick people into thinking it doesn't exist, or give them an illusionary choice to avoid it?

I'd totally be cool with the stat/attribute system being obfuscated entirely and not available to be looked at client-side.
Qualities would still be visible so you could still extrapolate much of your skills if you were a nerd, but these things would be hidden from normal players and you could just tell them platitudes like, "You gotta keep exercising if you want to stay strong, broheim!"

Then they'd suddenly be chill with it.