User:TowerDragon/Draft: Character change

This page is a proposed Wikipedia article. It is currently in user space, and is not an actual Wikipedia article.

This is my write-up of an article about Character development (gaming) or Character advancement. Please place any comments on the talk page.

Notes for the real article:

Improvement of a character’s statistics in the course of the game, using similar rules as character creation: modify (increase, decrease, change) existing statistics and add new ones
Games mechanics for increasing stats — general experience vs. skill training:
- Experience system, "level-based" system (receiving "experience points", which are then "invested" by the player into the necessary skills):
  - by spending experience points or
  - when gaining a new experience level (which represents overall character power)
  - allows more flexibility and fairness in rewarding the completed tasks
- Training system, "skill-based" system (developing the character's skills by using them - meaning that if a character wields a sword for some time, he or she will become proficient with it)
  - does not imply any reward for the completed quests, except a material one, assuming that the character trained his or her skills while working towards the set goals
- Many games, such as Oblivion (Elder Scrolls), utilize both the training system and experience system.

Characters will also gain more useful types of equipment, such as weapons and armor.

These rewards are usually given for overcoming challenges and achieving goals:
- winning battles or otherwise defeating enemies,
- performing class-specific activities, and
- completing quests.

The conditions that need to be met may vary; some games are focused on defeating enemies, while others emphasize completion of the quests.

In most computer role-playing games, character advancement does not affect the characterization of the player character.

Relevant sections from other articles[edit]

Delete this from the final article. Versiones as of 07:28, 5 February 2007 (UTC).

From Character creation[edit]

Character advancement refers to the improvement of a character’s statistics later in the game. The player will modify existing stats and add new ones, usually by spending experience points or when gaining a new experience level. Character advancement typically uses similar rules as character creation. To avoid unrealistic sudden changes in character concept, though, character advancement is usually more restricted than the initial character creation. For example, attributes are almost always harder (if not impossible) to change during character advancement. In some contexts, the term character development is used interchangeably with character advancement, whereas elsewhere character development refers instead to the player's indirect characterization of the character through role-playing.

From Computer role-playing game[edit]

Players are allowed to choose how they want to improve their character's (or party's) performance in terms of attributes, skills, special abilities, and equipment. These improvements are given as rewards for overcoming challenges and achieving goals. The conditions that need to be met in order to earn these rewards may vary; some games are focused on defeating enemies, while others emphasize completion of the quests. The amount of freedom players are given when choosing what to improve also varies by game; some allow highly detailed and specialized customizations (known as "builds"), while others automate the process almost entirely.

In many games, players are allowed to name and create the concept of their characters, as opposed to playing the role of a pre-defined protagonist. When creating a character from scratch, players might be able to choose their race. Players choose a character class or profession that defines the focus of their training in different aptitudes such as weapons mastery, social skills, spell-casting, and stealth. Some games allow characters to advance in more than one of these professions, but this usually carries some form of disadvantage in order to maintain game balance. Some games also allow the player to choose a "background" or "vignette" that defines the history of the character, prior to gameplay.

Two different systems of rewarding the player characters for solving the tasks in the game can be set apart: the experience system (also known as the "level-based" system) and the training system (also known as the "skill-based" system). The former system, by far the most common, was inherited from traditional role-playing games and emphasizes receiving "experience points" by winning battles, performing class-specific activities, and completing quests, which are then "invested" by the player into the necessary skills. The second system was first introduced in Dungeon Master, and emphasizes developing the character's skills by using them - meaning that if a character wields a sword for some time, he or she will become proficient with it. This system was later used in the The Elder Scrolls series, as well as the Dungeon Siege series.

Both character development systems have their advantages and disadvantages. The experience system allows more flexibility and fairness in rewarding the completed tasks, but is generally unrealistic, since it is, for example, theoretically possible to develop a character's warrior skills without ever actually using them in game. The training system does not imply any reward for the completed quests, except a material one, assuming that the character trained his or her skills while working towards the set goals. However, such systems tend to over-simplification (as seen in Dungeon Siege) and are often considered a step away from classical CRPGs towards the action RPG genre. Many games, such as Oblivion (Elder Scrolls), utilize both the training system and experience system.

In most computer role-playing games, character advancement does not affect the characterization of the player character. Planescape: Torment and Fallout both stand as notable exceptions to this trend for their inclusion of complex quest structures and NPC behaviors that were altered depending on the player's choices, with Torment taking into account the player's predilection for law or order and Fallout introducing reputation-based traits such as "Child Killer" or "Gigolo." Other D&D-based games (including the Baldur's Gate and Knights of the Old Republic series) also offered many opportunities to shape the player's character, changing the nature of the game and and its NPC reactions.

From Console role-playing game[edit]

In CRPGs, overall character power is often represented by a number called a "level." As characters gain experience, they may gain levels, enabling them to attain greater attributes, abilities, and spells. Often in the process of gaining these levels, characters will gain more useful types of equipment, such as weapons and armor. Equipment and experience points are usually given as reward for overcoming challenges, usually in combat.