Levels and skills
Learning paths through this topic
Mastery by Use
Mastery by use makes a character grow in the way the player plays. Swing a sword often and you get better with the sword, and the game never asks the player to choose from a menu what they have already shown.
Daily Rewards
A small gift for coming back gives the player a reason to open the game every day, and a streak makes each new day worth protecting.
Season Track
A season gives playing a clear shape: a visible ladder to climb, a deadline that makes today matter, and a reason to come back until the end.
A double experience event ends while players are still fighting
Bonus events start and stop on the clock, and several can overlap with a player's own bonuses. Applying the bonus when a session ends, or when the reward is opened, pays the wrong amount around the edges. Here is how to give each reward the bonus that was running when it was earned.
Players at the level cap feel cheated when an update raises the cap
When a game raises its highest level, the players who were already at the top want their effort to count, but handing out a huge number of levels at once breaks the new content. Throwing away their extra play breaks trust. Here is a middle path that stores what they earned and releases it sensibly.
Grade a battle by what each side lost, so a lucky scout kill is not a triumph
After a fight the game shows a rating and hands out rank points. Counting only heads rewards trading ten cheap soldiers for one expensive one, and a tiny skirmish can look like a great victory. This entry shows a grade based on the value lost on each side with a minimum size, and handles the cases where nothing happened.
When the treasury cannot pay the army, disband the weakest first and protect the heroes
Upkeep is paid every turn, and one day the money is not enough. A random unit leaving, or the treasury going below zero without end, both feel wrong. This entry shows a clear order of who goes first, how to stop as soon as the books balance, and what to tell the player about the ones who left.
A milestone for building many different kinds should not count the same kind twice
A goal like "own buildings of many different kinds" is easy to break: ten copies of one house pass it, or the progress drops when something is torn down and the reward is lost. This entry shows what to remember, how to report tiers that were passed in one step, and how to keep a loaded save from paying twice.
Find missions on the campaign map that no player can ever unlock
A campaign map where missions unlock after others looks fine on paper, then one mission needs a mission that needs it back, or names a mission that was renamed. The player is stuck and the game never says why. This entry shows how to unlock with "all of" and "any of" rules and how to list the dead ends before anyone plays.
Cancelling a building upgrade should refund fairly, with no way to cheat
Players cancel upgrades when an attack comes or plans change. Give back everything and they use the queue as a free bank; give back nothing and they feel robbed. This entry explains a refund that depends on how far the work has come, what a waiting job is worth, and what to do when the storage is already full.
A cheater sends a made-up message saying they just earned a huge reward
If the server believes whatever a player's game reports, one edited message ruins the ranking for everyone. Rejecting every big number would punish honest boss kills. Here is a simple rule that allows real bursts of progress but stops impossible speed, and a way to notice who keeps trying.
Stop players raising the city level by filling it with homeless settlers
If the city level follows the head count, a player can import crowds who have no home and no work, and the town ranks up while it falls apart. This entry explains what to count instead so the level reflects a town that actually works, and how to keep the number honest when housing and jobs disagree.