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Experience points (often abbreviated as '''exp''', '''ep''' or '''xp''') are a representation of a character's advancement and improvement in skills in Role-playing Game s and Computer Role-playing Game s. Experience points are generally awarded for the completion of quests, defeat of opponents, Monster s and other obstacles, but may also be awarded for successful Role-playing . CRPG , Chrono Trigger .]] In some (usually Dungeons & Dragons -derived) games, experience points are used to improve characters in discrete Experience Levels ; in other games, such as '' GURPS '' and the '' World Of Darkness '' games, experience points are spent on specific abilities or attributes chosen by the player. In most games, as the difficulty of the challenge increases, the experience rewarded for completing it also increases. As players gain more experience points, the amount of experience needed to gain new abilities typically increases. Other games (mostly video games) produce a similar effect in a different way, by keeping the amount of experience points per level constant, but progressively lowering the experience gained for the same tasks as the character's level increases. Thus, as the Player Character strengthens from gaining experience, they are encouraged to accept tasks that are commensurate with their improved abilities in order to advance. EXPERIENCE POINT MODELS Level-based progression In games derived from '' Dungeons & Dragons '' (D&D), an accumulation of experience points increases a character's “level”, a number that represents a character's overall skill and experience. ''To level'' or level up means to gain enough XP to reach the next level. By gaining a level, a character's abilities or stats will increase, making the character stronger and able to accomplish more difficult tasks, including safely battling stronger enemies; gaining access to more powerful abilities (such as spells or combat techniques); fixing or disabling more complex mechanical devices; or resolving increasingly difficult social challenges. Typically levels are associated with a Character Class , and many systems will allow combinations of classes, allowing a player to customize how their character develops. Experience levels fell out of vogue during the late 1980s and most of the 1990s , but began to come back with the 2000 release of D&D 3rd Edition and the D20 System . Some systems that use a level-based experience system also incorporate the ability to purchase specific traits with a set amount of experience; for example, D&D 3rd Edition bases the creation of Magical items around a system of experience expenditure (known as ''burning xp'') and also uses a system of feat selection which closely matches the advantages of systems such as GURPS or the Hero System . The d20 system also introduced the concept of Prestige Class es which bundle sets of mechanics, character development and requirements into a package which can be "leveled" like an ordinary class. Skill-based progression In some systems, such as classic '' Traveller '' or the Basic Role Playing system, progression is based on increasing individual Statistic s (skills, rank and other features) of the character, and is not driven by the acquisition of (general) experience points. Free-form advancement Many modern systems (such as GURPS and the World Of Darkness ) use a combination of skills and mechanical advantages and disadvantages to build a character in a more free-form way. In these systems every change to a character has a discrete point cost, and players may advance their characters in any way they wish (within the constraints of their available points and possible prerequisites for certain abilities). While this free-form advancement usually is much more powerful, it is also more complex. Some games therefore offer to simplify character creation and advancement by suggesting ''packages'' or ''templates'' of pre-selected sets of abilities. COMPUTER ROLE-PLAYING GAMES Since the original Computer Role-playing Games derive from Dungeons & Dragons , most CRPGs use a level-based experience system. In many games, characters are required to be of a certain level or higher to perform certain actions, such as wielding a certain weapon, entering a restricted area, or earning the respect of a non-player character. Some games use a system of "Character Levels", where a higher level character always has an absolute advantage over one of lower level. In these games, statistical character management is usually kept at a minimum. Other games use a system of "Skill Levels" that measures advantages in terms of specific aptitudes, such as weapon handling skill, spellcasting proficiency, and stealthiness. These games allow the players to customize their characters to a larger extent. Some games (notably MUD s and MMORPG s) place a limit on how much experience a character can gain from a single encounter or challenge, hoping that it will reduce the effectiveness of Powerleveling . Remorting is another technique, while encouraging powerleveling, can alleviate the ill effects that powerleveling can cause by still giving the player a sense of achievement but keeping a balance with other characters of lower level within the RPG. Remorting Remorting is a technique used within some role-playing games, notably MUD s, whereby once the Player Character reaches the level limit within an RPG, the character can elect to start over or be remorted back to a weaker version of the player's character (back to level one usually). Yet the character has an added advantage, or power, that the player was unable to achieve before remorting. The advantage is usually access to different Races , Avatars , Classes , skills or even different lands within the game that are not available to characters that have not remorted. The term's origins are unclear but are thought to distinguish re-mortals (reborn characters) from Mortal s (normal characters) and immortals (game administrators). Another explanation comes from MUDs where the players may apply to become immortal characters who tend to the administrative issues within the game, game development, design and such. The administrators are generally expected to keep a certain distance to the game, and their interaction with mortal characters may be severely limited. When such an administrator chooses to leave this position and to start playing the game as a mortal once again - usually from level one just as any other new character - he is said to have remorted. Remorting is also known by numerous other names, such as ascension or reincarnation. Powerleveling Powerleveling (also known as '''racking up''') is the process of sustained, fast leveling in Computer Role-playing Game s. It is essentially the RPG equivalent of Speedrun ning, but many RPGers dislike the practice believing that, as an attempt to "beat" an RPG, it misses the point of role-playing. Also, by powerleveling high over the game developers' intended level, the challenge of the game decreases tremendously. ''Powerleveling'' can mean different things depending on whether or not other people are playing the game. Sometimes in single player games it refers to a player strategically playing with the sole intent of gaining experience points as quickly as they can. This is frequently done by finding opponents that give a lot of experience points for very little challenge or by going to an area with very powerful monsters and making great use of the game's healing system. This definition can also be used in Multiplayer games, but it is typically displaced by a much more charged meaning. Powerleveling is most frequently used in multiplayer games, where it usually refers to a player that is of much greater power assisting a player of much lower power in defeating enemies that are far too powerful for the low level player, but are easily and quickly killed by the more powerful player. Defeating high level challenges rewards the lower level player with experience points more rapidly than normal. In general this is considered a form of cheating, or manipulation of the game system for unintended results. To combat powerleveling, Game Designer s have devised better means of rewarding a player based on their actual contribution to the completion of the task. Another method used is to cap how much experience a character can gain at any single moment. For example, the game might not allow a character to gain more than 20% of the experience they need to level up by defeating an enemy. This is controversial in that it also punishes players who are skilled enough to face challenges more difficult than regular players or that band together with other players to face more difficult challenges. Another anti-powerleveling method is to base the experience given out on the highest level within the party that killed the enemy — powerlevellers get around this by what could be called "passive powerleveling", where a high level character who has access to healing abilities heals the lower level character as he or she fights the enemy, or places beneficial spells on the low-level character while placing curses on the enemy. Powerleveling increased in '' EverQuest '' as it became more common to sell characters through the Internet , which could go for as much as $5000 USD. Estimates of possible annual income one could generate as a full-time ''EverQuest'' player range from $6000 to $30,000 depending upon particular practices of the player. Of course, techniques of Kill Stealing and Powergaming would make this pursuit considerably more lucrative. Powerleveling in MMORPG's can also refer to multiple people play the same character in order to level up quicker, there are even some online services which will do this for money. Some online companies offer powerleveling services, whereby a customer pays a fixed amount for the company to level up their character. Essentially, the customer provides the company with the username and password for their account, and the company assigns an employee to play the character for the customer until a desired level is reached. SEE ALSO |
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