What's your preferred game mechanic for getting stronger? (various types of XP and gear)

[ZedClampet]

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

Some of the main mechanics for advancing your character, off the top of my head, are:

1) XP from objectives and gear
You will likely get better gear, but the primary method of getting this gear is leveling your character. Downside: Creates the possibility for filler content. Also, depending on how the game is balanced, you may need to do every side mission (in games with such) just to keep up, or you might be able to grind your way to being OP. Example game: many mmo's and rpg's.

2) XP from behaviors and gear
You may be able to get better gear, but you also improve your character through behaviors rather than completing objectives. You get XP from doing a lot of different things, like using melee weapons increases your melee skill, running increases your running skill, etc. Downside: In Abiotic Factor I carried heavy items around in a circle for half-an-hour raising my strength statistic and in Dying Light I once spent a night climbing up a rock over and over to improve my agility. Example games: Dying Light, Abiotic Factor and Valheim

3) Gear alone
Rather than go up levels with XP, you find or craft increasingly better gear. Downside: Depending on how the game is set up and how you play it, you might be able to get way ahead or fall behind. Example games: Some survival games do this, such as Ark and Nightingale. Some shooters do it as well.

Can you think of other methods? Which is your favorite? I prefer the third option.

 

[Colif]

1) XP from objectives and gear
You will likely get better gear, but the primary method of getting this gear is leveling your character. Downside: Creates the possibility for filler content. Also, depending on how the game is balanced, you may need to do every side mission (in games with such) just to keep up, or you might be able to grind your way to being OP. Example game: many mmo's and rpg's.

this

Much more than number 2 which sounds like Skyrim to me.
I have played an rpg that use 3 as well... tl2 comes to mind. but it also uses 1. You could equip any gear provided you had the stats and I just made some insane rings that gave low level characters the necessary stats to use higher level equipment. Sucked when you take off wrong part and everything else falls off.

slaps Zed for not making it a poll

 

[ZedClampet]

this

Much more than number 2 which sounds like Skyrim to me.
I have played an rpg that use 3 as well... tl2 comes to mind. but it also uses 1. You could equip any gear provided you had the stats and I just made some insane rings that gave low level characters the necessary stats to use higher level equipment. Sucked when you take off wrong part and everything else falls off.

slaps Zed for not making it a poll

I always forget to make polls.

 

[Colif]

I fixed it

 

[Colif]

glad most games I play don't have item weights, just restrict you by amount of slots, and maybe item size. Although I do remember some where its a slow walk back to town.

glad your death was worth it.

 

[Pifanjr]

It depends on the genre. I think XP from behaviours is great in colony sims for example, while XP from objectives works better for open-world RPGs. I prefer the leveling in Fallout 3 and New Vegas over the levelling in Elder Scrolls games, as smithing a thousand iron daggers is just not very engaging gameplay.

Getting stronger just from gear on the other hand works very well for Survival games. It's awesome if you can find rare materials while exploring and you can immediately use them for a new piece of gear, instead of having to wait until you hit an arbitrary (skill) level to unlock that piece of gear.

 

[Frindis]

XP from behavior and gear. Take D4 this season as an example: I have not touched D4 since open beta (you could play up to level 25) and was not going to before I noticed it surprisingly getting a bit better after the loot reborne update. So, I booted up a fresh character and skipped the whole main campaign because I noticed that the xp and gold boost you would get in the next couple of weeks would greatly benefit my main character instead of slogging through the whole campaign and getting mediocre gear at best. I can always play the main story at some point if I want to.

 

[DXCHASE]

It depends on the genre.

100% this. My preference changes on the type of game but voted for the 1st one since thats the most common one in the games i play but i love a game that gets you xp by jumping around everywhere, and making stuff at a fire or a blacksmith is neat to a certain point to but i dont wanna deal with both of these XP gains playing something like Destiny 2 or COD.

 

[red_5ive]

Easily the first one for me, and I don't even have to look at the others lol. I'm a fan of roaming around/exploring and doing secondary objectives, just because I have a blast doing so. Becoming over-leveled by the time I get back to the main story/objectives is a bonus.

 

[ZedClampet]

So far I'm all alone in picking the third choice. Let me explain a little why I prefer it.

In typical RPGs, if you don't like your character halfway through the game or just want to experiment with different things, you either have to pray the developer put in a way to reset your character or you have to start over.

I love experimenting. When I play a game, I want to try everything, and I don't play games more than once, generally. If everything is tied to my gear, all I have to do is change what I'm using. If I want to suddenly try magic, I can. Or concentrate on ranged damage? Sure. It's just a lot more flexible, and I think it makes my experience much better.

 

[Slasken]

2 for me, but it doesn't matter that much. I just don't like level scaling.

 

[red_5ive]

Not sure if this qualifies for the list (and I'm not suggesting that it be added), but one thing that I don't like is when leveling and/or gear are story/location locked, as in level progression requires you to visit/finish an area or section of the game, but you can't get there until you progress the story. While not exclusively a PC game, the most recent example I can think of that I played is God of War: Ragnarok.

 

[Brian Boru]

I voted 1 cos it's 1, 2, 3 in that order for me.

1) XP from objectives and gear in Open World games, the whole point of which is that the world is open They also tend to be less messed up by story, so there's often a lot of really good gameplay out around the world. This is mainly the more recent FPS like Far Cry 5-6, where the gear is tied to pursuing objectives out in the world.

2) XP from behaviors and gear would be in 4X games like Civ, if you substitute buffs via Policies and Techs for the Gear part. I just had a Dromon [ranged boat] protecting a Fish resource while also placed so it could farm the local Barb camp which the little dears built on the coast
Same with whichever Archer I want to upgrade—station it in a City near Barbs and let 'em walk right on in.

Could also apply in RTS with a veterancy mechanic.

3) Gear alone applies to FC3, where you need to kill 4 Rhinos to upgrade your Wallet—roll up, roll up, get your rhino-skin wallet here! But it was a good idea to up your carrying capacities first before tackling the fun Outpost part of the game, or pursuing the story.

 

[Pifanjr]

Is killing enemies an objective or a behaviour? From the description of each I assumed getting XP for each killed enemy was part of the first option, whereas with the second option you get XP per action.

 

[Zloth]

Is killing enemies an objective or a behaviour? From the description of each I assumed getting XP for each killed enemy was part of the first option, whereas with the second option you get XP per action.

I think it's #1. That isn't specific as to the XP source the devs might give, but it should be something not so granular as just using skills. #2 would be Elder Scrolls style where you advance skills by using them (so trying to unlock chests will increase your skill at lockpicking). Every swing of the sword adds to your melee skill in #2, but #1 gives you nothing until the critter is defeated. Though it could be that you won't get anything until the whole quest is completed under #1, too.

#3 is Final Fantasy 7 style, where you slot in powers! But then, those powers actually gain XP with use. If you're giving your weapon fire damage with a fire materia, the materia will get stronger with every swing - so it's sort of #2 as well!

I do like the gear (or card or CPU program or whatever) option a lot. If the game has fun exploration, that can stand on its own. If the exploration isn't a strong point for the game, though, I want to level up my gear! Maybe that's by use as in FF7 or maybe it's a crafting thing. Whatever is fun.

 

[Brian Boru]

I assumed getting XP for each killed enemy was part of the first option, whereas with the second option you get XP per action

You don't get XP in FC for killing enemy troops, but you do for specials like tanks or convoy trucks, planes or boats. But there isn't a clear split between Objective and Behavior—most objectives you're pursuing to gain something involve killing guards and wandering patrols.

I'll probably want to farm XP in my current FC6 NG+, just to see if the levels go beyond 20—current credible claims are they don't, but there have been random claims of higher. I'm level 19 so I might as well, just for curiosity. To farm, I'll chase non-flesh targets, especially tanks and convoys.

PS in a risqué dating sim, do you earn XXP?

On the other hand in Civ5 I get XP per action every time I take a shot at an enemy. Don't have to kill, and in fact there isn't any extra for getting the kill.

Why do I feel I'm rambling and not answering your point? Do I get any XP for this?

 

[Pifanjr]

On the other hand in Civ5 I get XP per action every time I take a shot at an enemy. Don't have to kill, and in fact there isn't any extra for getting the kill.

The XP you get is independent of what action you take though. You can have a boat shoot a dozen other boats and then get the promotion for doing more damage against land units.

 

[Zloth]

Why do I feel I'm rambling and not answering your point? Do I get any XP for this?

Not only that....

View: https://youtu.be/3P1SQYWChIM?si=qskahkv9rBvMOrgT


You levelled up!