INTRODUCTION
My main bugbear playing Boundless is the lack of character development - a large part of the RPG side of MMORPG.
Skill Sets and Alternate Characters feel like patches that do their best to alleviate the symptoms, but only succeed in delaying the inevitable pain.
SO…
This thread tries to consolidate the ideas already discussed by the community, and build a common language around them. This way we can help them develop rather than rehash them each time.
What this thread is trying to achieve:
-
A mechanic to provide long lasting character progression, that adds value to as many other aspects of Boundless as possible.
-
To provide the development team with a bunch of suggestions that hopefully add value to whatever is being considered.
What this thread is NOT about:
-
An answer to the economy, the universe and everything. However, the suggestions that follow will add value to the MMO side as well as the RPG.
-
Why players leave the game.
-
Why XYZ feature is more important.
-
What additional content should be or not be in the game.
Arguments that have been done to death (so we don’t need them again in this thread):
- Player progression is only for RPG and not sandbox players.
There was a discussion in the Economy Ups and Downs thread that made the claim that there are 2 “archetype” players - (paraphrasing) those who like to play one character, and those who like to be part of the community - and you can’t satisfy them both.
In practise, those options are not on a continuum. Both and neither of those options can fit each and every player on any particular day depending on how they choose to play that day.
Also, playing 1 significantly advanced character that can try everything, or 10 underwhelming characters that can try everything is the same thing. One simply provides substantially more quality of life.
- If everyone can do everything, then everyone will do everything and it will ruin the economy.
This argument is only valid when where is a very small number of things that can be done. The only true limiting factor we all face is time. Given the choice, people will gravitate towards the things they enjoy, and outsource the things they don’t.
Keep in mind that it’s likely everyone will want to try everything - there are objectives that challenge every player to try everything.
It could be argued that right now there ARE only a small number of things that can be done in Boundless, and someone who can commit a few hours a day to the game can do everything. As the game grows, and the options become more diverse, there will not be enough time for anyone to do everything… unless Boundless is all they do 
Even then, only a small fraction of people will be interested in doing everything all the time - just like in real life.
It’s important to mention that if someone commits to playing over the years, they SHOULD be able to master everything. There is nothing wrong with this. It will not destroy the community.