Rebalance the low-end level curve

[Elerion]

Having recently brought in a number of new players and introduced them to cRPG, I've noticed they appear to be put off by the initial level curve. As a new player, without the gear and skillset of veterans, it's hard to make a meaningful impact in the early levels. This sucks the fun out of the game for many potential players, who would otherwise grow the player base for this fantastic mod.

While I appreciate the charm of starting as a peasant and working your way up, I believe the game would benefit from shortening this period somewhat.

Around level 20 there is a clear shift in power from peasant to useful soldier. Archers are able to wield the Strong Bow with ~125 wpf, meaning they actually hit roughly where they aim and can do proper damage. Shielders can wield decent shields and weapons. Cavalry can ride the majority of the horses and hold a lance. This is when a new player can typically expect to make a meaningful impact.

With the current leveling curve, assuming 2x multiplier on average, it takes 5 hours and 22 minutes to reach level 20 (6:21 to level 21). This is roughly the length of a short single player game, and many potential players will find this to be too long of a wait before they can truly contribute.

I propose the following:
Lower the xp curve such that a new player can expect to hit level 20 after roughly 2 hours. My opinion is that this will allow players to experience the "peasant life" for long enough, before they truly feel useful. This will reduce the total xp required to hit level 31 by roughly 3% -- an inconsequential amount. If desired, the XP can be added on towards the end of the level curve, keeping the time required to hit level 31 unchanged.

In terms of population on the servers, little will change. If we assume players on average play until ~32 before they retire (most retire at 31, but many play significantly longer), battlefields currently consist of ~3.6% "peasants" (People below level 20). After this change, ~1.6% will be "peasants". Either way, they make up a very small part of the battlefield, but will still be there.


In the end, I believe this change will significantly improve the initial impression new players have of cRPG, while having no or minimal impact on the game balance.

(I realize "Skip the fun" exists to allow players to test the waters, but I believe it is better for the game in general to have them play real characters they can get attached to and care about.)

Thoughts?

[zagibu]

As 2h, you can get even K/D at level 12-15, so maybe they just made sucky first builds? If you decrease the time for the low levels further, peasants will almost completely disappear, and be more frustrated, actually, because they can't find an even match (another peasant).

[Elerion]

It is true that 2-hander or polearm builds are able to contribute earlier, since they only really require strength and power strike before they become useful. Most other builds require a combination of str and agi. Archers have the highest minimum requirement before they are able to contribute, since they require a minimum of WPF to even hit where they aim at short range, and the lowest bows are unable to do meaningful damage even against light armor.

I don't see why new players should have to play as 2-handers to feel useful after a couple of hours.

[Siboire]

I dont want to sound harsh or mean but:

It's called "skip the fun", with this they can reach lvl 30 and try out any kind of builds in minutes and see what fits them and have fun. If they want to grind, they can simply make a peasant and work their way up with lvls. New players never had this so easy, I remember the old days when you were getting 2-3 golds and almost no xp when you were a peasant following a knight doing all the kills into battle while you never felt more useless.

cRPG has never been more newb friendly with all the patches that nerfed veterans and heirlooms. Anyway, after all, this is a RPG, it's normal that new players find it rough for a while but if they go practice on duel servers, they'll be able to do something even with a lvl 15 character. 
I say keep everything as it is currently, but that's my opinion, I don't know if others will agree with me...

[Blondin]

Sorry i didn't read the all thing, i stopped to read when you said that 5 hours is too much for reaching a playable level.

What is 5 hours? I say it's 2 or 3 day of playing, or max it's 5 days of 1 hour.
I'm not a grinder and i don't play everyday, with session around 2 hours, but i play this mod since july 2010. If the mod has been to easy, i would have stop to play month ago.

I don't really like peasant time, but for me it was necessary to understand the gameplay (btw when i started to play, it was really hard, ppl were level 35+ with plate and charger all the time... There was no upkeep, and gold gain was about 150/200 a round).

Now you can achieve levl 25 very fast, instead it take much more time to reach 30.

[Inhumanetie]

If they don t want to play as a peasant there is a Skip the Fun button which makes u lvl 30 with gold or w.e

And if they enjoy playing the top end of the game am pretty sure they will start a character from the start so they can heirloom stuff.

[Duke]

As others have already said, just ask them to try the "Skip the fun" feature.  It's perfect for new players because if they screw up the build, they can instantly rebuild a new lv 30.

Once they have the knack of things, they can decide whether it's worth grinding for heirlooms.