Having party members drop in and out of the group

[MAIR]

So in terms of plot setup, the best way to describe current project is Hunger Games but a bit more anime, I guess. Basically there's a group of twenty(ish) people in one large arena, and each one has a unique power. However, not every character will join the player's group. All in all, only 9 of the initial 20 will be playable. Due to this, I was thinking of having a "waiting period" where the party will split up to look for the other 11 characters. Now, there's pluses and minuses to this from both a story and gameplay perspective, but for the sake of keeping this on track let's focus on gameplay for now.


+Allowing every party member to have their own time in the limelight, and to see at least a bit of use in gameplay


+Giving the player unique scenarios and battles to face


-With the way RPG's tend to work, at least ONE of the party members will be underleveled, which is always frustrating.


-Some players may not like being essentially forced to use fixed characters


Now, to get around the underlevel problem, it shouldn't be too hard to incorporate a Gen6/7 EXP Share system, but is this even a good idea to begin with?


tl;dr: Is a portion of gameplay where the party separates and regroups later a good idea from a gameplay perspective?

 

[Solis]

I don't know what a gen6/7 exp share system is? Could elaborate

 

[MAIR]

@Solis Whenever a battle is won, the entire party gets EXP, not just those that participated. Though, the party members on the bench tend to get half, or at least a bit less EXP than the active ones.

 

[Solis]

I think it would be easier to create a game that does that, especially if you're not able to play the characters at the start for the entire game. Imagine trying to balance every new character you get.. If you are able to play the characters from the start the entire game, there is nothing wrong with making everyone have their own exp (I find this system more fun where I get to pick and choose which characters I play). 


Gen 6 meant Pokemon to me hahah. 

 

[MAIR]

@Solis Yeah, both the new Pokemon games and the Devil Survivor remakes do this, just a bit worried it MIGHT make things a bit too easy.

 

[Solis]

And  i get bored personally if the game is too easy (While I think Pokemon moon and sun are amazing), I'm bored. I always turn of PAART EXP SHARE. And my friends, them too. 

 

[MAIR]

@Solis Agreed, if a game is a breeze then it's hard to stay invested in what's going on. I think Sun and Moon do a good job balancing the shared EXP, but a balance like that is hard to attain.

 

[Wavelength]

Shared EXP doesn't make a game appreciably easier or harder - what it does do is allow players to switch between characters more freely instead of using the same group of 4 active battle members whenever possible.  It also smoothes the difficulty curve (less spikes up and down) in a system like yours where members are frequently swapping in or out.  I recommend using it.

 

[Dr. Delibird]

I cam here to say basically what @Wavelength.


Not having experience share being a thing basically makes the game harder the same way only adding more HP makes scaled enemies harder. It isn't harder, tedious yes but not harder. So on the flip side if no exp share doesn't make a game harder than that would mean that exp share existing in a game doesn't make it easier, only less tedious.

 

[Kes]

For opinions on the party splitting, see this thread (just a couple of threads below your own)




I always give the reserve party EXP for the reasons that others have mentioned.  If you don't want to give them 100% (which is the default), then you can change the rate quite easily.  In Ace it's in the script Game_Actor.  I assume it's the same name plugin in MV, but you'll have to check that out with MV users.

 

[MAIR]

Hey, I gotta say thanks for the replies.


I kind of already planned to have an EXP Share anyway, I just figured some third party input couldn't hurt.


On the subject of splitting the party I think I'll do it. It'll be a good way to give every character screen time, playable or otherwise. Plus, It'll be a good way to give the player a bit of downtime before plot bombshells decide to drop.


Thank you again!