While this isn't an augment suggestion, it is a Mechanical one. I like the Augment system a fair bit, it's the first of its kind that I've seen. However, I think it would be better served along sides a Stats and Skills system. As is, the current load-out of masteries is fairly easily maxed from what I can gather, which means that in the end every character ends up virtually the same; Augments being the only way to diversify oneself and even those can all be purchased after a bit of time.

What I suggest is pretty simple. Offer up four or so stats; Strength, Durability, Speed, Reiatsu and Stamina if you want to have the tiring effect really be noticed. Take the current masteries and put them in as skills; Zanjutsu(Weapon Skill), Hakuda(H2H), Shunpo(HSM, Sonido, etc etc), Kido(1 Skill for each of the 2 schools), Cero OR Bala, etc etc. Something like that. Of course each races allotted skills would be different, and some races (Vaizard) would obviously share a pool of skills thus making them the most expensive to play. You could even introduce a skill like Zanpakutou Unity/Fullbringer Unity/Hollow Resonance that would define each individuals aptitude with their power. Of course for Shinigami, this would also represent how close they and their Zanpakutou Spirit are.

S'far as stats go there's really only two options; Numerical and Representation. The first is both the easiest and hardest to work with. When stats are paired up in a Numerical sense you get a very clear idea of what your stats vs someone elses means; IE my strength is 50, yours is 20. I'm clearly the stronger of the two. Representational stats, I lack a better word to call this, would be something more akin to bubbles. These bubbles wouldn't be a steadfast way to represent your stats vs someone elses, but instead would merely show what your affinities are. Doing the bubble method is fairly simple in terms of purchasing as well. Say you have 4 Stats, the ones suggested above. Each rank category would be granted X amount of total bubbles; the amount of bubbles being very dependent upon your Rank. As you write, and thus progress your own character's arc and strength, you'd be allotted more bubbles to fill in as you so choose. The issue with this however is that say we have 2 Shinigami. One a Captain, the other a 4th Seat. In terms of strength both share 3 bubbles. Upon looking at this you might assume that the pair are equal in terms of physical might, but that might not necessarily be true for a cadre of reasons. Numerical stats negate that issue, and provide a much more clear and defined character growth; it's visible and in a sort of language we deal with on a daily basis.

I'll continue to post more as I have the time, and in between it all I'll happily discuss the idea further.

I've said my piece on the other thread already. As long as the rp'ers are good, a stat system isn't necessary. And the more systems, the less freedom there is in an rp, so I will put my trust in the rping capabilities of our colleagues here and say, no - in my opinion it's not necessary.

I detest stats with a burning passion @_@

That being said, with the system in place already (and having the mastery differences be defined and such as they are) a stat system would be rather difficult (if not irksome) to implement properly for anyone without a Master rank, since at that point that's where things level out. All the same though. As Ganz said, the more systems in place the less freedom we have as RPers. It shifts from "Use this blank canvas" to "Color inside the lines".

That being said, I'm not TOTALLY against the idea IF NEEDED. Since there hasn't really been an actual fight yet, or a substantial about of RP to really go off of, it would be a moot point, imo, at this point in time. Something for the back burner, sure, as I've seen sights that do create a stat system and make members aware of it, but don't actually use it until things get out of hand. Which I wouldn't mind at all.

tl;dr I'm neutral on this topic. Neither for nor against it, merely against the instillation of such a system at the present time.

God I love this topic. I wish this was here 3 months ago XD

Anyway, let me start off saying that I have considered many, many, many different systems for EoE. As an admin, I have to think about how things are run on a site.  Naturally, difference in power comes up. There are several ways to do this. Here was my reasoning for picking what I did.

1. What is my Focus here?

This questions always determines a power system, like it or not. There are only 2 different types of answers to this question; Fights or Plots. Balanced does not exist (trust me, it doesn't), its either one or the other. My focus, I decided, was Plot.

2. Do I want Complexity or Simplicity?

This is the deal breaker on stats for me. Complexity runs to a variety of degrees. I wanted to have something practical and was easy for anyone to understand and jump into without alot of looking back and forth on how things are done. Everyone here can pretty much sum up how the augment and mastery system works in a sentence or two. Thats what I liked about the mastery system and a Tier system, they are easy to wrap your head around. Yes it sacrifices alot of intricate detail but I think those details are whats separates people by personal skill and understanding of how to fight.

3. Mastery or Tier

This one was a tough call for me. Originally, we had a Tier system in place. Any old member can tell you about it. Tiers are very easy to just throw up and have people get involved in. But they lack considerable variety in terms of power. A mastery system on the other hand offers a more detailed example in terms of strength as opposed to a Tier system. Granted, the two usually come hand in hand. I removed ours however because it simply conflicted with alot of what I wanted to do.

4. Words or Exp.

I hate words. I feel it limits too many people. Also, you try too hard to meet the quota then you do actually posting meaning full work. Plus, I can assign values of exp across the forum at different levels which I think is too useful to pass up. So you get Exp.

5. Perks

This screws with most sites I see. Perks and skills seem to be literally ALL over the place. I think our augment system will replace how many sites conduct perks in the future. This one was a no brainer. Wish I had thought of it sooner, would have saved me alot of headache.


With that all being said, I'm not done with this system. As Xion can tell you, I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my work. There are alot of holes that I see more and more of as time goes on. Simply because you never get to sit back long enough when working on something to see them. I do plan on updating the system eventually as well. So i'd keep that in mind too.

Well my opinion on stats stand as follows:

Stats and their effectiveness is dependent on the RP community as a whole, I look at it like this ... the more advanced RP sites can do without stats because they clearly understand the boundaries in which their character stands and have to rarely be watched or monitored. Now adays that is very hard to find because of the varying skills and etc regarding these RP sites, alot more needs to be explained and detailed to prevent running into misunderstandings or constantly having to jump into threads as staff to decide an outcome.

Even after stats are implemented, the only way for them to work correctly is to have a CLEAR explanation of what gap in stats equate to what available actions.

ie:
Str - 5 (Able to pick up someone twice their size)
10- Car
15-Large truck
20-Elephant
25-Buildings and etc

And then after that, and explanation for the difference in stats and what can be done.

5 str vs 10 str - Slight advantage, will win a arm wrestling match
5 str vs 10 end - Slight advantage end, can brush off normal blows

15 str vs 5 end - Decent advantage, a punch can blow opponent backwards even while guarded.
15 str vs 5 str - Decent advantage, can catch opponents melee attacks without taking damage

This is just an example of course, it doesn't necessarily take away ones creativity it just forces an RPer to out think an opponent because they both realize what their strength and weaknesses DEFINITELY are instead of just having a broad idea. Most people who despise stats despise the idea of being clearly weaker than someone without any fallback or loopholes to exploit to win, like i said it works for some sites and others do a poor job using stats efficiently.