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Character attributes, time of day, day of week, state of the world: in TriadCity these things interact. This means you have a brainful of options for optimizing character possibilities according to circumstance and depending what you'd like to achieve. Frankly, most of the time these nuances aren't worth paying strict attention to. But, there are times when you'll want to optimize your abilities to peak Olympics-level performance, for example, when initiating violence against NPCs you've never encountered before.

Think of these interactions. Carrying a lot of weight will lower your Dexterity. That makes it easier for opponents to land hits. Do you care? If your character is a Warrior with major health and lotso Armor, maybe not. If you're a lightly-armored Thief, maybe it matters a lot. Did you know that if you're hungry or thirsty your Dexterity is lowered? Probably want to hydrate up before pickpocketing those cowboys in Virtual Vegas. Did you know that if your Alignment has drifted significantly your skills decrease? Probably a good call to get that drift into optimal territory before Learning, or trying to Actuate sachets.

Those are situations where optimizing is pretty certainly called for. What about Leveling? Some players are very earnest in trying to hit levels at exactly 0. It's true that "perfect zero" optimizes the quantity of experience needed for subsequent levels. But, the difference is trivial. Suppose your new level 1 character goes "over" by 3, that is, gains 103 exp before leveling. At level 10 that character will require 3,336 exp to reach level 11, compared to the "perfect" possibility of 3,300. I.E, the delta is 36 at level 10. Is that worth stressing over? Probably not, and, in reality it's impossible to hit "perfect zeros" above a certain level.

What about attributes during Leveling? Well - that depends. What is your path to character growth? Do you want to optimize Int for more Practices, or perhaps Con for higher Health? If you're a Thief or Healer or Herbalist, maybe you don't care about Con as much as Warriors do. If you're a Warrior, maybe you want to balance Int for Learning Sword and Parry Skills; but maybe you want to drive Con to tank yourself up. Suppose you've got lots of RPs? Maybe you'll want to maximize Con while leveling and trade RPs for Practices. You have a lot of options.

How about Learning? Yup you want your Int up there. There are many ways to push yourself to genius IQ. You can wear your gold spectacles, drink Smart Juice, load up on ruby eq until you sparkle red. Did you know that your Int is higher on Ruby Star's Day? If you reeeeeaaaaalllly want that Int up in the stratosphere you can pay attention to these nuances. Does it matter most of the time? Prolly not so much. You need to get it high enough to Learn easily, but waiting a week for Ruby Star's Day is maybe unnecessary, and a bit pedantic? Up to you, seriously.

In the end these decisions are about balance. Yes you need Int for Practices, but you also need Con for health and energy. You have different means for achieving optimal results.

This is part of what makes TriadCity different to much of the MUD and MMORPG traditions. There are multiple ways to achieve nearly everything. It's up to you to formulate your own strategies for success. For that matter it's up to you to decide what "success" means to you.

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SmartMonsters' Bulletin Boards Post early, post often.

SmartMonsters' Bulletin Boards
Post early, post often.