Interactive Skill Training Concept.

Geeky

In many MMOs, learning abilities is often reduced to a simple transaction: visit a trainer, pay a fee, and voilà—you’ve mastered a new skill. This approach, while functional, lacks depth and realism. Shouldn't learning an ability reflect a character’s effort, understanding, and growth?

Here’s an alternative system: interactive skill training. Imagine you’re playing as a healer. Upon reaching your trainer, you're presented with a choice: you can accept the new ability immediately at its basic level (Apprentice), or you can engage in a skill-based training session to increase its potency.

How It Works

1. Skill Levels: Each ability has tiers of proficiency:

   • Apprentice: The baseline version of the skill. For example, a healing spell might restore 10 HP.
   • Adept: An intermediate version with improved performance (e.g., healing for 12 HP).
   • Master: The highest level of proficiency, significantly enhancing the skill (e.g., healing for 15 HP).
             (Could be more than just three, just sticking with 3 for ease of discussion for now)

2. Interactive Training: Training sessions resemble a mini-game, akin to Guitar Hero. During training:

   • A sequence of prompts or symbols scrolls across the screen.
   • Players must match the correct inputs (key presses, mouse clicks, mouse movements, or combinations) in rhythm or sequence.
   • The difficulty of these sequences increases with the level of the ability.  (e.g. Level 1 abilty you just have to press WASD in the correct order.  Level 10 abilty you're pressing letters and doing a click here or there.  Level 50 you're into a virtual reality goggles and doing Beat Saber style stuff, (not really, but that could happen)).

3. Results:

   • If you perform poorly during training, you only gain the skill at the Apprentice level. Say, completed of 50%
   • Moderate success upgrades the ability to Adept. Completion of 51-94%.
   • Flawless performance allows you to achieve Mastery. Competion of at least 95% correct key and mouse strokes.

4. Progression: Each new skill tier introduces:

   • More challenging sequences during training.
   • Greater monetary costs for repeated attempts.
   • Players must decide whether to stick with a well-mastered lower-tier skill or invest effort and resources to upgrade to a more powerful, but initially weaker, skill.

Example Scenario

As a Level 1 healer:

• You learn your first healing spell, Minor Heal.
• At Apprentice level, it heals for 10 HP. You choose to train.
• During the interactive session, you perform decently, earning an Master rank. Now, Minor Heal restores 15 HP.

Later, you unlock Greater Heal:

• Its Apprentice level restores 14 HP, slightly more than your Mastered Minor Heal.
• However, the training mini-game for Greater Heal is harder.
• You must decide: stick with your reliable Minor Heal (Master) or attempt to master Greater Heal, knowing the upfront investment of time and money.
  

As the game progesses and you with your character, there could be times where some actual strategy comes into play as to if you want to put in the time, effort and resourses needed to try to master the next skill.  

I also think some of the benefits of this system are:

1. Player Engagement: Training becomes an active and skill-based process, immersing players in their character’s growth.
2. Meaningful Choices: Players must balance effort, resources, and their own skill to decide how and when to advance abilities.
3. Replay Value: Training sessions can be repeated, but at a cost, adding a layer of strategy and resource management.
4. Skill-Based Progression: High-level players who achieve mastery feel a sense of accomplishment and can distinguish themselves from others.

Sovrath

On one hand I think it could be interesting but on the other I think a different test for acquired skill level might be better. Boiling it down to a reflex game will only benefit those players who can manage a fast reflex game. And it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with knowing a specific skill.

Scot

Not sure this is the skill system I would pick, but some thought in that direction is long overdue.

Geeky

Scot said:

Not sure this is the skill system I would pick, but some thought in that direction is long overdue.

For sure. 

Geeky

Sovrath said:

On one hand I think it could be interesting but on the other I think a different test for acquired skill level might be better. Boiling it down to a reflex game will only benefit those players who can manage a fast reflex game. And it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with knowing a specific skill.

Well, you're limiting your response to only what examples I've provided you.

This is just an example of how we could get some interactivity and a modest amount of skill into the tab-targeting gameplay we love.

Ranger classes could have to click on a moving target to simulate using a bow.

Healer classes could have to trace a pattern to simulate applying salves or bandages.

Monks could have to click on objects that are flying toward them in time to simulate dodging.

I don’t know, I'm just trying to spark the idea in others who are more creative and also give our community some inspiration into how what we love can evolve.

Hopefully, in a way that is enjoyable, makes the gameplay more engaging, and also acts as that ever-so-sought-after way for people to actually show they are better than others—rather than just spending more time facerolling than others.

Vrika

Bad idea. That would have about the same effect as devs deciding "Congratulations. Because you've passed skil-check minigame and been judged skilled, for the rest of the game every enemy you face has 30% less HP".

It's not the kind of difficulty adjustment a game should have.

Sovrath

Geeky said:

Sovrath said:

On one hand I think it could be interesting but on the other I think a different test for acquired skill level might be better. Boiling it down to a reflex game will only benefit those players who can manage a fast reflex game. And it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with knowing a specific skill.

Well, you're limiting your response to only what examples I've provided you.

I'm just pointing out that specific example would only work for people with fast reflexes. That was all. Otherwise as I said I agreed with the premise.

Geeky

Vrika said:

Bad idea. That would have about the same effect as devs deciding "Congratulations. Because you've passed skil-check minigame and been judged skilled, for the rest of the game every enemy you face has 30% less HP".

It's not the kind of difficulty adjustment a game should have.

I'd have to say that's a very narrow minded way of looking at it.  Again, it appears you're only using my one very limited example and not thinking outside the box.

It could be used to increase the strengh of snars, the duration of mezzes a number of different abilties other than just dmg or heals.  It is honestly no different than what almost every current game does by allowing you to find "stronger" spells to upgrade them.  However, at least in this proposal it could potentially involve you being skilled enough to pass the rigors of whatever test whatever class has.  See my reply to Sovrath as outside the box (granted, not very far outside the box, alas, I'm not a super creative person) examples that could be expanded upon.

Vrika

Geeky said:

Vrika said:

Bad idea. That would have about the same effect as devs deciding "Congratulations. Because you've passed skil-check minigame and been judged skilled, for the rest of the game every enemy you face has 30% less HP".

It's not the kind of difficulty adjustment a game should have.

I'd have to say that's a very narrow minded way of looking at it.  Again, it appears you're only using my one very limited example and not thinking outside the box.

It could be used to increase the strengh of snars, the duration of mezzes a number of different abilties other than just dmg or heals.  It is honestly no different than what almost every current game does by allowing you to find "stronger" spells to upgrade them.  However, at least in this proposal it could potentially involve you being skilled enough to pass the rigors of whatever test whatever class has.  See my reply to Sovrath as outside the box (granted, not very far outside the box, alas, I'm not a super creative person) examples that could be expanded upon.

That doesn't change the problem that being skilled enough to pass the minigame would essentially decrease the difficulty level of the rest of the game.

MMOs can somewhat deal with the situation that skilled players are able to beat stronger mobs which drop them better items, because once you've beaten those stronger mobs then you'll naturally want to challenge even stronger mobs that drop even greater rewards and now have appropriate equipment for those.

But how would the game deal if more skilled players would get both increase to strength of every skill through a minigame, and then additionally have the advantage that in actual fight the are able to play better. That would create a situation where good players would face trivial difficulty in the actual game, and either get bored or be able to skip huge number difficulty phases in the equipment grind. Or alternatively players who are bad at game would get completely stuck because the difficulty would be too high for them.

An MMO can't have player skill mean too much because it destroys the balance for the rest of the game.

cameltosis

I like the general direction you are going, but like others I don't think a weird mini-game is the right approach.

What I would be looking for as part of a training process is to train to use the new skill properly. Not doing a mini-game that then grants me that skill, but being asked to use the new skill in the correct way.

For example, if I'm playing a DPS character and I'm ready to unlock a new damage skill, then the training process should get me to do things like adding that skill to my rotation and then maintaining that rotation for 1min.

If I'm playing a tank, then the training should be learning to hold aggro with my new aggro skill. Or learning when to pop a situational lifesaving skill by putting me in a dangerous situation and telling me to survive.

If devs are going to put a lot of time and effort into the training process (and I definitely agree that they should), then surely the best outcome is for that training to actually benefit the player, to actually make them better players when they come out of it. Teach them how to tank properly, how to heal properly, how to time their burst damage, how to kite, how to play as part of a team.

Scot

In some MMOs you have to go on quests to get certain abilities and powers. That might be a good way forward for key points in a skill tree.