DamienSScott wrote:
KaneKitty wrote:
I'm pretty happy with the small numbers on the damage and HP that I see in these shots. I've always thought it was stupid when MMOs have characters with 129,864 HP... it feels like it's done merely to make people say "woo!" when a big number shows up on their screen. For readability and balance, you may as well just drop the final couple digits in every case, since they're never doing anything significant. 
The arbitrarily large numbers tend to be because of power creep. This was/is one of WoW's bigger development issues. Their plan didn't involve side-upgrades or anything like that so every time new content came out they had to increase the numbers on it. But they had to increase them enough to make it seem like it was worth it to pretty much go through the same stuff over and over again every patch/expansion. I'm sure it's part of the reason they had to standardize mob stats and jobs. I really hope FFXIV doesn't go this route.
One of the many reasons I think sidegrades are generally superior to upgrades. You upgrade when you want to make significant alterations to the gameplay experience. The delicate balance of the endgame is generally best left where it is until it starts to break down or the fundamental gameplay experience becomes boring.
For that matter, most of the level spectrum is kind of superfluous, too. There's no real inherent difference between having 50 levels or 10 levels or 10000 levels. The only difference is usually how often you're rewarded with a minor upgrade. While the 50-100 range is standard and generally works pretty well, games could easily work with fewer (there's no real advantage to using larger numbers other than the aforementioned "big numbers syndrome"). In most MMOs that are on the market, you could easily reduce all of the leveling to 5-10 levels. Then, rather than a pretty insignificant bonus during most levels, you get a huge bonus at each level... a slew of new abilities and gear, and a really noticeable statistical advantage. Each level becomes that much more meaningful. And it's infinitely easier to balance a game with units of 10 levels than with units that range from 50-100, which inevitably leads to the larger numbers that KaneKitty is referring to.
This also produces a better "fun curve." It takes longer between each level, but just as players start to grow bored with all of their new toys and goodies, they become closer to the next batch.
And then of course, if you do want to add more upgrades, like a level 11 and 12, it's much easier to avoid those balance issues and power creep.
Little numbers are definitely where it's at. And they make designing so much easier.
