MMORPG Player Progress

* See also MMORGP_the_Game_Experience
* See also New_Rapture_Prestige_System
* See also Player Skills
The usual Components of a Game ( and particularly MMORPG ) :
: Acquisition
: Advancement
: Prestige
: Player's Skills
: NPC Team ( and their Skills Development )
: Meta Story Discovery ( many hidden stories )
: Player Residence
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Measuring Small Game Successes  :
Many Players in a MMORPG still need affirmation of 'beating the game'/'winning'/ 'progress' :
Unitizing/grouping of sets of adventures/missions could be done to allow the Player to see 'Completion', versus an ongoing ( and possibly endless ) set of 'sand-box' activities, and whose Success might not be obvious/made plain.  The question is : How far do you then go having the Player struck in the face with "HEY, SUCCESS STUPID", with fancy fireworks, fanfares, five digit "points" floaties, cash register Ka-Chings and such ( The Casino people have that psychology down to an art to distract the player when they really are actually losing ).
Allow Players to set/select some Time goals for their play interval  ( to see if they can achieve it ).  Player checklists for what they want to get done (integrated with NPC Tasking) - with good defaults for goals.
A 'Mode' for a Fake point systems, so that Player is shown score 'Points' on actions ( all those kill numbers you see flash by constantly for doing virtually nothing in certain/many games ).
Heh - Yet another 'Player Created Asset' - the point scoring add on 'plugins' for the Client program with splashy/impressive point displays.
Achievements ? (Player 'badges') ... "We no need no Stinkin 'Achievements'" ....  ( but can have them anyway - real ones ). Example The New Rapture Prestige Points which open new game tasks/opportunities.
"Baadges?   We no need no Stinkin Bahd-jezzz !! ":
Some Players like (or demand) indicators of advancement showing attainment of some level of ability or deed ( can be put on websites to 'show off' to other players ... ).   Various Civic titles, etc...
ie - Mouse Killer - First Class (with Cheese Cluster) awarded by the City Vermin Control Department.
Various Quests might have unique mementos (in-game objects) which countless Players can store away in their in-game storage inventory space  ( a useful tool might be more meaningful and/or a choice to allow Player to tailor their Avatars or at least not wind up with "Yet another piece of useless loot item to dump at the vendor or to warehouse in their 'House'/'Bank' " ).
With Player Asset Creation, all kinds of strange achievements/tokens might be created - so many that they may need to be classified into 'Major', 'Minor' and 'Trivial', so that the Player may chose to turn 'off' their presentation at a certain level, when they grow tired of them.  Others may simply be for entertainment/amusement value.   As usual there would be a way for these to be displayed to other Players to earn their awe and astonishment  ( Heh - I have THREE Ryan Badges of Honor, when YOU ONLY have One. Looooser!!! ).
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Skill Paths For Your Team NPC's :
One of the game elements to remove tedium and yet maintain a higher level of 'realness' is the NPCs which act/behave in more intelligent ways, more of the time.   Scripted AI Simulation for NPCs have then to react/do-appropriate-things to support themselves as people and carry to out their lives/duties as a background in the game.
Players build a 'Team' of NPCs which can do mundane game things - fetching/fixing/transporting - Often based on logical/well-define jobs/Tasks/Roles which don't have to be 'Micro-managed'.Many MMORPGs have 'make work' tedious actions which are there to eat time/effort, but are terribly mundane and boring - thus largely wasting the Players tim. The NPCs also can do specialized Tasks for which their Skill Progress would be selected  ( and the Player seeks to make resources available for ).
Most RPG (Role Playing Games) have Skill Ramps and options which allow the Player to selectively progress ( and continuously do new/interesting things ).  This MMORPG has similar 'improvements' for the Player's NPC "Team" members.  These too are often logical progressions which if left alone will normally progress ( self-driven using more AI logic ) with little Player guidance required.  The Player's activities might be used to guide their Team NPCs development if its left upto them.
The Skills enable 'Tasks'/actions/abilities for the NPCs, which are run via complementary AI scripts, which control when/who/where/what/why/how the skills are used ( paying attention to situational priorities decided  logically or by the Player's orders ).
Note- this is the same AI which all the self-run NPCs inside and outside the City make use of.   Combinations of circumstance, attributes and skills for NPCs bring much variety, and interactions between them even more.
Players can guide their NPCs' Skill progress to match their own 'Team' preferences/goals, and can get higher/sooner efficiencies/abilities through Effort they expend on organization/guidance --in effect, you get mediocre 'good enuf' if you do nothing ( the automatics will take care of it ), but can excel if you take interest and expend some in-game Effort.
Skill systems are usually based on 'Achievements' which mark major quantum levels, as well as incremental Skill levels - usually the result of experience and repetition.  Often Resources are needed for the NPCs to operate/practice upon and various required tools.
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(( Thinking of many games - some Players will have interest in seeing/watching what NPCs and their Team members are upto  ( think of those Aquarium programs that have been popular for 20+ years ) - yet another facet for this whole project -- an active screen saver mode following NPCs around in their Rapture World.
"What the Heck is my Avatar doing now ??"  - One more set of customizations : Avatar Preferences, which allow the Player to 'tailor' their Character - not just clothing, but default behavior attributes. There would be vanilla behaviors the Avatars carry out while the Player is off-line, but mixes of various preferences and tendencies would allow them to be less ordinary. 
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Lazy Citizens - Players Who Don't Do Much :
Players Should have freedom to do that - Should not be forced into the usual 'narrow path' many games have ( but also offer something more than it being a 'Fancy Chatroom' ).
There is minimal 'City Work' ( "Those who don't work, don't eatOriginally from Paul the Apostle in the New Testament" - John Smith 1608 ) which Players can do just to stay alive ( 'Fish for Dinner again, and sleeping in the New Citizen barracks' and wearing your 'outpatient' duds ).   Players could even have their minimal work run 'on automatic' while they are Offline, so as not to impede their (more interesting) Online activities.
There would be plenty of things to see and do ( to play Tourist ), and some Players may like that as a way to orient themselves and to get used to how things in the MMORPG Game's World work ( at least in the safe areas ) before going off to do more involved/complicated/risky activities.
With a Player Created Asset feature, some 'Players' may hardly play in the Game World at all, and instead have more fun using the tools to create stuff for the game.
Player who 'act out' or try to be disruptive (Griefers) will be handled by game mechanisms that cause proper (real-world-like)  countermeasures/reactions/repercussions ( ie - Player decides to strike a NPC without reason gets hustled off to Jail by Constables to experience 'jail activities' and possibly a trip back to 'The Clinic' to correct their 'maladjustment'. )
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If a Player stops playing for a while, their NPC Team underlings/employees can keep doing things.  Particularly the public aspect like a business, which could shift to simple mediocre cash-in = cash-out mode ( It would squander the Player's bank account or non-business assets otherwise ).   All others will be on Maintenance Mode doing mostly uninteresting things while sustaining the Player's possessions within the game's more dynamic World. Note that this uses scripted behaviors which normal NPCs make use of.
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