Stats vs. Ranks

Age : 30 Posts : 311

Here at US, we are run by a rank system which essentially allows and limits what your characters can do. We rely on ambigious SCs to determine our character strengths, while jutsu, professions, pets, summons, etc., are hindered by ranks that are incredibly hard to reach. For each topic that we finish we receive EXP and MP that may eventually lead to a successful upgrade in rank, but have we ever thought of implementing a Stats System here instead?

So instead of SCs, you can use your EXP to buy Special Characteristic like Stats. For example, I want my character to be fast, so I use my EXP to purchase +3 Speed, or it is gained through a training thread which shows the use of that skill. So when we get evaluated, traits are given out rather than just EXP.

Like, Player A finished one topic. They gain +3 in Strategy, +5 Observation, +2 Socialization, +4 in Weapon [Kunai].

I find that it is easier to determine stronger characters. Thus, just because a jounin goes against a chunin, does not mean a jounin will be stronger if the Chunin player has dedicated their points and training towards +Strength. So, if the Chunin is +18 in Strength, and the Jounin is +11, the Chunin would technically be stronger.

Does that make sense?

What's everyone's thoughts on Ranks vs Stats?

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

Not that I have too much of a voice but I can't really say I dislike the idea, I just think it's not worth the hastle and trouble it would cause.

Basically Staff would have to rebalance the whole thing, whole combat system, decide on exact values on the numerical stats and all of that just for what? Greater combat clarity?

I've always thought and will think that combat is not the main focus of this site so no combat change is worth it if it only achieves little more balanced or just better combat but flips the table on everything else.

Furthermore what about current characters? Do we just take away their SCs, how do we refund that? Some people wrote quite a large amount of words to acquire things that they have, do we just take it away? I guess we could give all of them some equal amount of points but then again it wouldn't be better than not taking SCs away from them in the first place.

I can understand how stats can make a good mechanic, I really do, I just believe that such decision must not be taken while old mechanics are working great and have very few flaws, it should be a decision that is made when starting a forum. This forum has different mechanics and I think they work fairly well and implementing stats would simply not give us anything that would be worth destroying the old system for.

We'd basically just be switching systems just because. We currently have one active admin and very few consistently active mods, why do we need to put this on their heads? I'd much rather have my jutsu approved or my topic eval'ed than have them spend their work hours of something I dont see the point in anyway...

So my opinion is, it may be a good system but it's just not worth it. It's kind of like a politician comes into the Parlament and is like "Hey guys, I know that Republic works out great for us but how about changing it to Constitutional Monarchy, I've heard that works too..."

Age : 29 Posts : 3145

Ruka has more or less hit the nail on the head. Everything on US is tied to rank. If you change that, you're changing the whole forum and its workings. It would be easier to make a brand new site, than to overhaul US like this. US would technically be a new site after such a change.

There are too many risks involved in such a change, for very little gain.

Age : 29 Posts : 488

I side with Ruka, once again. =P

Age : 49 Posts : 1036

What they said above. Plus keep this in mind - there is no assurance that a new system would be any better. Just look at the last set of revamps and you can see how it takes months along with changes to the staff before any serious attempt to shake out all the bugs gets going.

Maybe if US had a better testing system, one that actually involved the players instead of leaving it solely to a staff with long track records of mediocrity, things would work out better. As things stand now however I would give better than 50/ 50 odds that the new system would be worse than what we have now. And that is shading to the grossly optimistic to the point of naivety side.

Age : 31 Posts : 8965

Stats would be too much work to integrate into our systems at this point if you ask me. Although I've seen them be implemented on sites from day one and be practically flawless, the issue with stats is unlike the Special Characteristics you've brought up, they aren't ambiguous in the slightest. There becomes numerical evidence that Player A can unceremoniously decimate Player B because Player A has 50 Strength and 50 Speed and Player B has 10 and 10. Now, I do believe that players who roleplayer more frequently and to a higher degree should be stronger then their counterparts and our current system achieves that, without making it completely one sided.

Creative combat > stat based combat.

Age : 31 Posts : 1490

Speaking as the guy who would most likely do majority of the system edits himself [just because Im that kind of guy], it is a lot of work for a 'small' reward (inb4 "that's what she said"). However, I do not think stats entirely have to take away from the creative writing. Much like SCs, the stats are meant to resolve issues in regards to balance and issues in regards to disagreements in fights. At the end of the day, a stat system would only have to carry as much weight as was implied in said system.

Age : 31 Posts : 1490

Solved.