Replace Level with Achievement

[noxidjkram]

Assertion:

Level is an outdated measure of progress that includes only one measure - the amount of XP gained. Achievements includes progress in many, possibly most, areas of the game.


Request:

The level indicator on the bottom bar, that is used to order the friends/guild list, be replaced by an achievements indicator.


Benefit:

The holistic experience of a player will be used to show their "priority" in the list. Players of all playing preferences, not just XP hounds, will have a chance to have their game experience reflected by their position.


Question:

What do you think?

[BB_Saqui]

Would such a system have a use outside of merely sorting the guild/friend list differently? It really is just a method of sorting, not necessarily a "priority ranking" system; such as doing it alphabetically for example.

Players often make their experience known via their reputation: talking frequently in guild/global chat, being knowledgeable about mechanics, giving out tips to other players. Judging a player about their knowledge exclusively on their level is something a player must decide for themselves: I find talking to them is a more consistent way of finding that out! ;)

[AbsoluteZ]

Not a bad idea, I'm fairly ambivalent... I have completed 77% of general achievements incidentally while leveling and never paid attention to them, so I'm not sure it would make all that much difference. If someone is only worried about their spot on the list, they will just go after achievements instead of xp. Personally, I try to level fast because I want to have all the game content available to me.

[sparkz]

Achievements includes progress in many, possibly most, areas of the game.

Achievements dont award progress in game, they award progress in doing whatever side quests BB introduces, which is nowhere near equivalent and can be polar opposite to actual progress.

[noxidjkram]

Agreed BB_Saqui, however we are working within the constraints of the data/measures we have available.

My assertion is that we have better ways of ordering achievement/progress with the data we have available to us.

As you say, players can add context to that by doing other things such as talking to other players.

[noxidjkram]

Achievements dont award progress in game, they award progress in doing whatever side quests BB introduces, which is nowhere near equivalent and can be polar opposite to actual progress.

An interesting point - would you be able to expand upon the "can be polar opposite to actual progress" please?

[sparkz]

An interesting point - would you be able to expand upon the "can be polar opposite to actual progress" please?

if you consider this game a strategic game, then an inherent part of the game should be thinking what you're doing and optimizing what you're doing. THis is why eg. you have plenty of players that skip majority of the available content like adventures and concentrate only on the good ones (given the absurd discrepancies in exp/ resource yields between them) in order to simply optimize the gain for the time they need to spend. This is logical approach to the game if you ask me.

There is a number of achievements however that require you to get back to the content you skipped, for no other reason than the fact the designer decided so. OR, require you to play the content through in a suboptimal way (I believe there is at least one achievement that requires you to complete a particular adventure without losing large amounts of the cheapest units, which in any case is irrational choice). Meaning that in order to complete the achievement you need to deviate from the optimal path you would normally take.

Objectively speaking, such deviation in a strategic game can hardly be called achieving anything. Subjectively speaking its simply waste of time in exchange for some worthless points.

[lordloocan1]

Maybe at least give the achievements some meaning/value?

[fishslice]

Maybe at least give the achievements some meaning/value?

To a degree this happens with some of the event building (easter egg house) which can only be max level through the gain of certain achievements.....

I like this concept though and would rather see some of the achievements as being a lot harder for long established players, although I recognise this would also make them near impossible for less established players. A difficult juggling exercise by BB at the best of times.

[cliff60]

achievements dont show progress as much as XP does. reason is achievents get done as u increse ur lvl on their own without need to check what ones u have left. yes there is a few that require certain skills to be put on geo,s but most get done simlpy by doing things on ur island or doing certain addy or completing quests u will get anyway.