Next game idea: XP
While there are many methods to level up, gain XP, and so on, including not needing the system at all; I would say that having an XP system can work if done properly and it doesn’t feel onerous. This has been the most difficult post to write so far, but I think I’ve got a decent idea to present here.
Gaining XP. This will be pretty much just like it in GW2 and BfN.; play the game and do things that give you experience, mostly through battle and exploration. You wouldn’t gain XP for decorating your personal neighborhood for example, but if you fought in a Gnome Bomb match or fought AI in an Ops, or other such stuff, you’d gain XP.
Each character/variant would gain XP separately, just like in GW2. There would be a couple of big differences however; there is no XP cap, and no character ranks (recruit, advanced, master, etc.), and for every character/variant you have unlocked, whether you start with them or get them later, you’ll automatically have access to all their upgrades immediately.
All XP you gain not only levels up your current character/variant, but also advances you on the current prize map. If you finish the current prize map, one of 2 things would happen till the next one is up;
- Nothing. The XP you earn is only applied to your current character/variant. This is the easiest way to handle things, but I’m not a fan of this as much as option 2 below, as it makes XP feel less valuable.
- The prize map will have a ‘continuous earning’ section once you’ve finished getting all the prizes for that map that for every XP increment (ex: 5000 XP), you get some bonus coins, and since coins would always be useful in the new game, this would still be rewarding.
XP will always be earned and used. You will never hit a cap, never waste any XP, and will want to keep playing without it feeling tedious. The lack of a cap may feel weird to some, but one of my biggest complaints over these games, and GW2 in particular considering how many hours I have in it, is seeing XP pop up and it does nothing.
Every time you level up a character/variant, you get some coins. Every tenth level also allows you to add some flair to that character/variant’s name on the vanquish screen when you defeat another player. Which I will detail in the following section.
Character/variant name plate and customization. In BfN when you are vanquished by a player, their chosen victory slab and puncher(s) are shown in the lower left and their rank and upgrades in the lower right. I’d keep this system but with 2 changes; 1st-the upgrades will be more obvious as to what is being used as many share the same icon and can be difficult to distinguish in BfN, and 2nd- instead of a rank plate you’ll see their level 0-???, chosen title in the chosen font, and stickers they are using for this purpose. Pre-level 10, or if you don’t stop at a booth to customize it, it would only show level.
At level 10 for a character/variant, you unlock the ability to apply a title to your vanquish screen (prior to this it blank). At level 20, you’d be able to use a special font for that title you unlocked at 10, the default is simple green or purple text (plants and zombies respectively). At 30, 40, 50, and so on, you’ll be able to add stickers to this screen. (Samples are at the end of the post). You will have access to some basic ones at launch, the others for achievements, beating bosses, and so on.
The level 10 titles/expressions would be mostly silly and based on your character and faction, while some will be more universal. Some titles would be available from the prize map, others you will start with, others earned from playing, and some would be available immediately and unlocked for coins from Rux. We would need to avoid anything toxic or derogatory, but a bit of bragging wouldn’t hurt. While you couldn’t use them on a character that hadn’t hit level 10 or higher, you’d be able to use any applicable title on any character/variant that hit level 10 and greater. For example, say you love the public battlefield and fight there a lot, there could be an achievement for playing 20 hours there and it would have the ‘Warrior’ title that you could use on any character. Perhaps after placing/moving/decorating 10 buildings in your personal neighborhood you’d get the ‘Decorator’ achievement and corresponding general achievement for any character, placing/moving/decorating 100 would give you the ‘Architect’ title, vanquishing 100 AI zombies or plants would give you ‘Zombie Vanquisher’ or ‘Plant Vanquisher’ respectively. Other title ideas include; ‘Loves Cantaloupe’, ‘For Crazy Dave/For Zomboss’, ‘Cheese!’, ‘Sandwiches!’, and so on.
Fonts would range from the initial simple block font, to metallic, to flowery, rainbow, wooden, and so on. Like the titles some would be available right away, some via achievements, some by the prize maps, and some from certain quests.
The Stickers are small items that can be added to your vanquish display around your chosen title. Again, you’ll start with some while others will be unlocked by various methods in the game. Things like suns, brains, zombie faces, marigolds, sprouts, and so on. Starting at 30 and then every 10 levels you’ll be able to add these to a character/variant’s vanquish screen. Eventually, with no cap, you may have so many that it’d be a little crazy. An idea to help with that is that there’s a limit on how many can be present, say 10, and once full for every 10 levels, you can turn one silver, once they’re all silver, they’ll turn to gold, and so on. The stickers can all be different, you can mix and match and then change them at any time as well. Some will zombie or plant only, but otherwise you won’t have many restrictions. That’s a lot of levels, even without the silver, gold, etc., as getting a title, a font, and 10 stickers (and note this could be more if it won’t get too crowded, and dependent on sticker size), would be 120 levels for a single character/variant.
I came up with this system as with no level cap, it’s impossible to predict how far someone will level a particular character/variant up, so fixed titles wouldn’t work. That and having more ways to personally express yourself, as long as anything nasty is kept out of the game, is nice for players to have.
Quick reminder; all upgrades on a character/variant you have unlocked will always be available. XP is used to earn additional coins and customizations. You will not have a power advantage over lower level characters.
Account Rank and customization. Your rank plate numerals will advance just like in GW2, and you’ll be able to customize your rank plate as well instead of it using a fixed color scheme based on your rank. This is partly to give players more control over what it looks like, and also partially due to the fact that the game will have no level cap.
I’m less definite on what this would look like. I’m thinking various colors, patterns, and possibly stickers like your character/variant vanquish flair, and stuff unlocked via playing and questing. The key here is that people can see your rank value easily, but you have some leeway on how that actually looks in the game.
XP progression. This one needs to be dialed in carefully. I don’t want getting to level 10 fly by while getting to 50 feels like torture. While almost every game I’ve played that has an XP/leveling system has the XP cost to level up increase for each level, I don’t want it to get out of hand and make later levels mind-numbingly grindy for people. A gradual increase of XP needed per level would be best here.
XP Boosts. These could be earned via the prize map, as they’d help you earn the prizes faster as well as earn coins for leveling up faster and they seem to be a thing in other games with battle passes. They could also be sold by Rux, but this would depend on how the overall economy works.
Summary. The idea here is that like coins, XP will never be useless. While adding small customization options to the screen your vanquished opponents see isn’t huge for some, you will always gain some coins to purchase things with when you level up, and advance that prize map (or get money from doing so once it’s done for the quarter). I do feel that lots of people will enjoy being able to so heavily customize their victory screens and will even seek out specific titles from the free roam regions (imagine defeating 100 Zgypt zombies as a plant and being able to add a pyramid sticker to your sticker options while beating the zone’s boss gives you a title like ‘Pyramid Power’). I really love the idea of having reasons to play for a very long time and not running out of stuff to earn/unlock/use while playing long term.
Character vanquish screen samples (Screenshot from the net, modified by me in paint, so not ideal examples, but get the idea across. In the game actual artists would make these look MUCH better):
No customization:
Basic title:
Font style customization:
Single sticker customization:
