Loostreaks;n9835181 said:
It is still the same problem, without any set level "caps". They need to plan this well ahead, as game will likely receive future dlcs and expansions, so you don't end up with three quarters of all skills mastered. This is typically hard to avoid in games of this size, so any additions will also need to expand on them as well.
Personally, I've never really enjoyed games that offer "unlimited levels". There's a looseness involved in systems like that that always has one of two results. A.) I wind up getting bored with the character, as essentially, I'm just repeating the same process endlessly after a certain point, grinding through parts of the game, hitting enemies with the same combos, with very little new or exciting happening. B.) My character starts to become shapeless, being good at everything as I've unlocked pretty much every last thing the game has to offer. That's the problem with Bethesda games from Oblivion onward.
Personally, I would ensure that at least milestone skills / abilities are exclusive. If I choose to master sniper-weapons, I can never advance further in automatic weapons. If I study an acrobatic form of martial arts, kiss heavy armors goodbye. Etc. That way, it's possible to make even basic (fighter, mage, thief, or cleric) classes feel very unique as players progress. Not every fighter will work like every other fighter.
In fact, perhaps the amount of "leeway" players are permitted in their choosing skills outside of their class could directly factor into
difficulty settings. i.e. Every time I level up, I am presented with 3 skills. I can choose one, which then further branches off into 3 more specialized skills, etc., creating a "spider's web" (circuit board?) of skills that logically
lead to one another.
On "Easy", I can select any prior skills at any time in any path, as long as they connect to base skills. Allows free-form, jack-of-all-trades characters with a wide range of skills, and it's possible to create much stronger characters much earlier on that can have an answer for everything. Potentially unbalancing or overpowered, but I selected
easy.
On "Normal" I can only select skills from trees that connect to my prior connections. I can fairly easily "multi-class", but I need to plan out my path somewhat to move sensibly from one set of skills to another. You can shoot for the stars with one set of skills while maximizing lower level abilities in another. Versatile and balanced approach that offers a lot of customization while also forcing players to grow into their classes.
On "Hard", I can only select one skill per trio, and I can only move forward on the web. Creates highly-specialized characters with decided strengths and weaknesses. It's like picking a racing line and committing to it. Will I head straight to the ultimate abilities of my single class? Will I zig-zag back and forth between two classes until choosing a final path? Or will my first skills quickly become nothing but support abilities as I rocket across multiple disciplines to discover some latent talent?
