Level up systems in RPGs ?

[jack1974]

Also, those games are all focused on a single player/character, so not a party. Having a party is very different, and even in this case I think would be different (for example you could choose which character will do a non-combat skill check, and so on).

[Jaeger]

The nice thing in Morrowind and Oblivion was: it encouraged you to spread your action, do some magic even as a fighter, try to influence people and haggle with merchants, whatever. This was because the level up was after 10 skill improvements - but only in the skills chosen at the start. In Skyrim any skill improvements will count against a level up, so there you need to be wary not to get ahead too fast in the non-combat skills (or non-caster skills, if you try the mage route.)

Which tends to lead me to the same conclusion you already arrived: If skill improvements in non-combat skills make you level up too fast, most players will ignore them - and that would be a shame, as then you would implement lots of nice possibilities which are not used.

I'm not familiar with Morrowind, but I did play Oblivion. The leveling mechanics encourages grinding major and minor skills against each other if you want to get the maximum number of bonus attributes. For example, if you want a character that specializes in using bladed weapons, that means you have also have to spend time raising hand to hand and blunt skills so you can get the +5 bonus when raising strength. Unless you keep track of every skill raised at each level, you can get a gimped character as you level up.

Edit:
What does anybody think about party members leveling up with the player character? In Dragon Age: Origins your party members automatically level up to keep with with your character if the level gap becomes too big. In Mass Effect, level/experience is shared with the squad; members who were unused for the majority of the game can be still be viable later on. Personally, I like that feature since it reduces the need to grind for characters that would have otherwise fallen behind; especially in scenarios where your party is forced to have a specific character.

[Elmsdor]

For non tactical RPGs, options C or A is fine. B feels retarded to me. The ability to either get a pool of points at once, or a tiering system where you improve your characters as you go is fine.

For Tactical RPGS, A is simply the only way to go. The reason being is that Tactical RPGS require a clear cut definition of power as it enables far many gaming mechanics to take place, notably effects on the battlefield such as hit/dmg and off the battle, such as the Promotion system. Ever considered Loren or SoTW to have a Class Promotion system? Hit level 10 or 20, use up a rare item, be promoted to the next class. IE Loren Warrior Promotes to Blade Mistress, etc.

There are ways to go around the C or A system in Tactical RPGS but I feel there needs to be definition otherwise

Cheers

[Neverr]

I have to concede that I think it would be interesting to see skills develop based on how often the particular character uses them instead of choosing what skills to increase on a level or some form of generalistic xp gain. Like being able to choose a certain character to barter with a shopkeeper would increase that characters barter skill, even making the races influence the effectiveness of bartering, of course we get a bit complex there so no big deal if we don't see that. I'd have to vote on a combination of C and A. The ability to develop perhaps a separate set of things based on how often you use them.

Ex. in Loren instead of unlocking different tiers of skills through more skill points, you unlock the base skill through levels, gaining skill points. Then you can advance or refine that skill through using it in combat or appropriate situations. It gives the game a more fluid living feel.

Another example would be Myrth unlocking a base heal spell. Then upon using it so many times it increases in effectiveness to a certain cap. This way you can maintain the level up system while still giving the unique flavor that each character would develop into through continuous usage of specific skills. Just a thought, though.