🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <70750,443-141292144317@3.10.7.22>, 70750,443@cis.com (Spike) writes:
>Ah, I forgot to mention the other big problem I have 
>with binary trees: in order to have a wide base
>at the lower tiers, you need a lot of tiers. I prefer
>around 5 or six, *including* skills. At the 5-tier
>level, each "field" has 2^5 = 32 stats. With three
>fields (Mind, Body and Generic Third Thing (tm))
>that's less than 100 stats. (At this level, we should
>be looking at extremely specialized skills - 
>and there should be way more available for
>this level of detail.)

This is true, but I think that you are missing my original point.
A binary tree, especially near the root of it, makes the removal 
or addition of a particular feature of the game particularly
easy.  The main use of this would be to add or remove magic and 
psionics with little pain.

I personally feel that the lowest reaches of the stat tree
will reach down to about seventh rank.  That's just an off the top 
of my head estimate, though.

I do feel, as I pointed out in one of my posts, that as we get farther
down the tree we shouldn't worry too much about symmetry.  After all, the 
stakes are lower out there.

I think that it would be reasonable to have the tree begin to spread 
out slightly wider on the level just below what Ramez proposed, perhaps
to three or four per branch. After that, we might as well just let things
run wild.

>I don't think we should worry about making
>the game *perfectly* balanced. I'd rather 
>make it realistic and *approximately* 
>balanced. Champions is wonderfully
>point-balanced, for example, and I have
>*big* problems with it.

This is a good point.  I think that we have to try and keep a
basic simplicity in the overall design, something that is intuitive 
and easy to remember.  Sometimes I have a great fear of looking up and 
finding out that net.rpg has mutated into net.chartmaster.

>Spike
>
>"I would shelter you, and keep you in light
> but I can only teach you
> night vision" - Suzanne Vega

	"Sublett said it was the Devil's work.
	 Rydell said it was a Tokyo franchise operation."
	          _Virtual Light_   -    William Gibson.

	 Tony Pace           -            <apace@mta.ca>