So let's say that we only allow one character per person into a plot. The plot is generally geared to stay levels ahead of a group of characters so that the combat doesn't feel like oh nothing special. Well, when you begin to have the, say three, strongest characters always in combat, for example Icarus, Kyle, and Ashley, then the combat will always revolve around them. The Gm of the plot will have to plan around them to either null them, separate them, or out right cater to their play styles. This leaves any other character, examples being Dalia, Alice, or any other mook character, at the mercy of the boss or combat of that plot. see what I'm getting at? It's because of this that we get the overpowered cahracters that we had in V2, it's why the combat system and stats that we currently have are broken. We will always have those few characters that will always be in combat and always be a higher level than everyone else.
Then doesn't adding more characters into the mix worsen the situation? The power players are still there, overshadowing even more people who could otherwise be in a separate plot and increasing the rate of power creep.
The problem with the combat is that GMs are (possibly rightfully) afraid of pushing up the difficulty to a point where glass cannons suffer heavily or even permadie from not hiding behind the tanks, due to our immense attachment to our characters.
With some serious enemy DPS and strategy, they'd shred the group up like wet sausage, considering the main battle plan is expend all mana and hope we live. RotMG is an old game, and balancing it is not an easy task if we're to keep all the PC's alive. In the event where they become disposable, well... let's just say we'd shatter a lot of glass.
How about this? Prior to a plot commencing, everyone must register the characters they will use. Then, for the entire duration of the plot ONLY those characters may be used, thus preventing everyone else form suddenly jumping in and ganking everything like a swarm of literally omnivorous locusts?
I mean sure, it doesn't make any logical sense from a narrative perspective when examined closely. But considering that the void plots apparently hinge on the PCs being the only real hope and every single more powerful entity in the entire universe not ganging up on the antagonists, I don't think that issue matters much.
I'm pretty sure if a large amount of people register, it's still result in the gankball of legend...
Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way.
Should plots have a
flexible character cap instead? The number 8 keeps coming to mind, but I'm fairly open on what it should be.
On a side note, USEC dropped down two spaces in the plot queue, meaning that Sanure is now greenlighted for a plot.