I've always had my own idea of what it means when one of my characters "levels up". Wanted to ask you guys what you think it might feel like.
Levelling (in most games) means more HP MP and stats of some kind. In general it seems you're able to take more abuse and keep kicking, physically and emotionally. I guess a good emotional parallel would be one of those really heated arguments with a family member that you don't back down from, and come away from feeling like a decision has been made.
Interested to hear your interpretations.
Azer
What would "level up" be irl?
I think of it now as another day completeled in boot camp. I'm sure anyone that's been through boot camp will agree that each day makes you stronger and you grow a little. There's a lot more to boot camp than that, but that's the basics.
That's just my view on it.
That's just my view on it.
Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you walk into an open sewer and die. ~Mel Brooks
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I would expand that as to say it would be like going through somehting that tests you and pushes you to your limits, then a rest. Now your that next level. That increment of rest is actually important if you think of it in real life terms. Take my day today for example... I competed in a climbing competition at UNL's (my college) rec center earlier today. I hadn't climbed in about a week but thats not important. I pushed my arms and legs to their limits until I could no longer lift arms and then some. Now if I were to go back tomorrow and climb I would be able to do better. I have given my muscles a rest, a chance to regain their strength. I have also gained some knowledge of the routes and what not. In table top terms the adventure that was today is over, XP time and WA LA! I am now a level 23 Joe.
I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
Leveling up can not be confused with training statistics or skills. Taking more beating physically and emotionally may respectively relate to increase in constitution and wisdom. I like to think of leveling as purely experiencial. Since experience is what makes you level.I pushed my arms and legs to their limits until I could no longer lift arms and then some. Now if I were to go back tomorrow and climb I would be able to do better. I have given my muscles a rest, a chance to regain their strength. I have also gained some knowledge of the routes and what not. In table top terms the adventure that was today is over, XP time and WA LA! I am now a level 23 Joe.
Your capabilities with your stats and skills are there, but that does not mean you have reached it. Until you master yourself through experience. If you are in second-grade, you're only as "omniscient" as the best second-grader.
Which means that leveling relates better to age and maturity, except that it's scale to age does not have to follow anything linear.
So, when a young warrior challenges a veteran warrior to a duel, and they both have strength of 15, who should win? It of course makes all the sense in the world that the veteran warrior would prevail with a greater skill - even if they have equal skill-values, the old warrior's insight and self-knowledge makes the difference.
However, what if the contest was more base, such as an arm wrestling match? Many would agree that this pure contest of strength will be decided by that statistic alone. I feel, however, that since your level denotesat what fraction you have reached of your maximum capability, the level should be slided into the function.
There must be a reason that a level 50 wizard would easily cruhs a level 20 wizard albeit the exact same statistics, skills, and spells (however impossible), and this is my explaination.
Chars: Aryvael et all.
I generally try to avoid talking about level in character in any way shape or form, if I can, since it really is an OOC thing. But I've had a few situations where I couldn't avoid it, and I generally tend to try to stay away from anything that sounds too much like, well, what it really is, and I of course never go spouting off a level number. I generally like to compare it to things like learning more about life, or sometimes getting older, although age and level hardly equate, as was mentioned by someone above. Those are of course more for talking about gaining an individual level. As for discussing overall level, I try to put it into general terms of knowledge about the world (or lack thereof, for lower level characters). Again, that can easily be seen as an age/wisdom sort of thing, so you have to be careful of your wording if you're going to phrase it like that.
As I see it, discussing levels in character is pretty much bringing the OOC IC, and as such, the real idea (at least for me) is to convey the message to the player you are speaking to, while still informing their character, of course, all [hopefully] without breaking your roleplay. On the whole, I'd have to say that this is one of the hardest things for me to put into words, roleplay wise, that I've run into.
I realize this is hardly the thrust of the discussion, but I figured I'd say it anyway.
As I see it, discussing levels in character is pretty much bringing the OOC IC, and as such, the real idea (at least for me) is to convey the message to the player you are speaking to, while still informing their character, of course, all [hopefully] without breaking your roleplay. On the whole, I'd have to say that this is one of the hardest things for me to put into words, roleplay wise, that I've run into.
I realize this is hardly the thrust of the discussion, but I figured I'd say it anyway.
Last edited by Taerom on Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.