5.1. Can I buff people outside my group?
Likely you can buff just about anyone, but that your buff will be scaled in efficacy relative to the level of your target. We want you to be able to help people, but at the same time curb egregious power leveling.
Source: Aradune Mithara
5.2. Will you have a Mentoring system?
We like the concept in general, but it would definitely have to implemented correctly and restricted such that it's not just power levelling in disguise, etc.
So it's on the list, but not at the top, meaning maybe by launch, or maybe implemented after launch.
Source: Aradune Mithara
We are considering a mentor system if we can design one that isn't exploitable, nor ruins the game too much for the noob who is being mentored. But in general, I think it's an idea worth exploring. – 28 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
The brainstorming on it goes something like this: you sidekick/mentor a lower level player. He can then borrow some items to make him more effective, but the items still belong to you (we need to get this in anyway, I want people to be able to loan items). He then maybe gets other temporary buffs to keep him alive.
The pros: you can help a noob out.
The cons: you can show the noob stuff he hasn't earned the right to see. – 28 October 2005
Source: Aradune Mithara
5.3. What is this Fellowship system?
The general idea is that there are some people who have close friends they want to group with but also have different amounts of time they can commit to playing an MMOG. The Fellowship system is for these people to whom staying together is so important that they will sacrifice some of their own experience to give to these close friends so they *can* stay relatively together in terms of level. Bottom line for me is that as long as someone is earning the exp, I don't mind it shared in a controlled manner (e.g. mindful of potential exploits) and such that there's no 'free lunch'.
That said, I realize it's a controversial subject. We'll mess with it in beta and if it's something that just doesn't pan out, we'll pull it (though I have high hopes for it). -
Source: Aradune Mithara
Yes, a group of friends would form a persistent social construct called a Fellowship. Then, say there were 3 in the Fellowship, but only 2 were logged on, a percentage of the exp earned by the 2 would go to the third such that his level was kept at or near his 2 friends. There's no free lunch, because the people online earning exp end up having to earn the exp for themselves and the offline person.
We plan on experimenting with this system (and other ideas involving offline advancement) in beta.
Source: Aradune Mithara
See also:
Article about Death/Fellowship System from Silky Venom – August 2005
5.4.1. What is the "Veteran Bonus System"?
Anyone can use any item -- there are no hard caps. here are soft caps, or, more specifically what we call 'item scaling' that scales, say, an level 40 item, down in power if wielded by a level 10 player.
The goal is to avoid twinked lower level players being gods and just thrashing through content with impunity. We also plan on scaling buffs and such so that you can sill, as a high level player, buff a low level player, but the bonus the lower level player would recieve it not the same as a higher level player -- again, it's scaled to the lower level player is not suddenly god-like.
And then there is the Veteran bonus I mentioned that makes item scaling not quite as severe assuming you have other characters on your account as higher or higher than the level of the item you are twinking your 'alt' with. This is to encourage replayability and reward veterant players when they create new characters to experience, say, a different part of the world or a different class or race. Egregious twinking of brand new players usually isn't a good thing, but can't be totally eradicated either. Twinking of your own alt, however, is a very good thing and something I think veteran players will both appreciate and deserve. - January 09, 2006
Source: Aradune Mithara