I realise I'm probably going to regret even making the topic given the nature of the internet, but I've been having ideas again now that I managed to get a properly working inventory up and running which really is the hardest part of doing an RPG code wise. To amuse myself I've been looking specifically at skill points and how they work as well as the 'skilling up' process. I always find myself drawn to the RPGs that are about skill points rather than levels purely because of the sheer variety they offer in terms of gameplay and it's not as limiting as class based gameplay. Although I think that class based gameplay can be fun if it's designed correctly.
I've been mainly looking at Morrowind for the moment, I tried looking at Fallout, but it's filled with normie shit thanks to youtube. I don't know if I should check out stuff like Ultima Online perhaps and older RPGs because that was from a time when gamers were allowed to be autistic with the maths on paper without having to hide everything behind code.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2GNNLz1pUU
This is the sort of thing I've been looking at, I'm just interested in learning the maths properly and checking out different systems. Obviously Fallout's SPECIAL stats are fairly iconic, but in the end their formulae isn't that out there. I'm not looking for sperging about skills generally, but specific mathematical formulae. In the video for example it details how much the experience points rate increases based on what type of skill you've put in a misc./minor/major category.
Heh, path of exile is pretty old now, but that's definitely been the butt of the PhD joke many a time. You might be thinking of Last Epoch that released this year that is sometimes called PoE lite.
The thing that makes PoE so difficult to get into is how disjointed it is, it's obvious that it is built up from many seasons of unplanned expansions. You get layers and layers of inter connected systems introduced as you progress through the game. But you have no idea what will be coming layer without looking up outside resources, even though it can drastically affect the build choices you might make in the earlier systems. And the currency is an absolute mess, it's all barter with no gold, only different crafting materials that you get in exchange for selling items in specific sometimes quite complex patterns. Again with no in-game info on what combinations sell for what, you've gotta go look up a wiki or have an obsessive autist's memory.
So yeah, it gets complicated, but it's largely from a lack of user friendly implementation and only about half of it is to the benefit of viable build variety.
The best way to play Path of Exile is to look up character builds that let you ignore as many resource cost and other negative mechanics as possible so you can focus on the 500 APM it takes to not get killed in one hit by basic white monsters.